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Chapter 2: Literature Review

Chapter 2 presents an outline of the tourism industry while emphasizing on the growing importance of the sector in the global economy to postulate the potential of the tourism industry. It emphasizes on country identity and country image. Hence, literature review is formulated to foster a theoretical framework for the premises of answering the research question.

A global perspective on the Tourism Industry

“Shorter working hours, greater individual prosperity, faster and less expensive travel, and the impact of advanced technology has all helped to make the leisure and tourism industry the fastest growing industry in the world” (Edgell, Sr., 1990).

Tourism has become a flourishing industry in the twentieth century, where destinations rely massively on their natural and manmade resources to build their tourism industry. Nowadays, it is viewed as a major element for economic development and growth. The tourism industry is seen as the most highly significant and integral part of any economy. It is also an industry which generates employment and foreign exchange earnings, Lim (1997) and Crouch (1996).

World Tourism Organization projected the international arrival by the year 2020 to be around 1.56 billion. Out of the projected number, intraregional number is expected to rise to 1,2 billion. Therefore, the projection for long haul travellers alone is estimated to reach 0.4 billion. Notably, statistics indicates that long haul travelers will increase at a rate of 5.4 percent yearly, between 1995 – 2020. This prediction for increase in long haul opens an avenue for distant destinations as Mauritius and others WTO (2006).

The figures above indicate that the tourism industry is a very promising one. However, to attract tourists to the destination, it is important to understand their psychology and buying attitudes so as to have a more precise marketing campaign that will attract them in the first instance itself. The literature that follows gives more insight on the topic.

Tourism in Mauritius

Mauritius is a subtropical island in the Indian Ocean, strategically positioned at the intersection of Africa and Asia, at 855 km east of Madagascar.

According to statistics Mauritius, Mauritius has welcomed 786,963 visitors from January to October 2013 against 765,578 travelers for the same calendar period in 2012.

The Bank of Mauritius, state that Gross tourism receipts for the first nine months of 2013 were at Rs 41,500 million. For 2014, tourism receipt is estimated to be Rs. 44,500 million.

Mauritius is a renowned destination for Quality Tourism- along with being exotic, safe, beautiful and peaceful; it has a unique combination of diverse cultures, well run hotels. All these have enable Mauritius to develop from nothing to become one among its main pillars.

Mauritius has a well established reputation for its tourism industry in the international tourism market. The next five most popular destinations for holidays, according to Travel and Leisure magazine, are Mauritius, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa and Norway. Mauritius is the only resort destination in this set. In addition, during the International Tourism Conclave & Travel Awards (ITCTA) held in Jaipur Rajasthan, on October 2013, Mauritius has also received the award for Best Destination Country.

Country identity versus country image

Since country identity is at the core of this dissertation, it is worthwhile to give an overview of the literature thereof. A destination has unique characteristics that enable it to differentiate itself in the international market. These unique features are called the country identity. Hence country image is formed by country identity.

Therefore, this section addresses and country identity cues and country image. It starts with an introduction of the theory of country image and country identity followed by the significant elements that build up a country’s image and ends by a discussion on the causes of image and tourist destination.

A good image and a positive reputation are probably the most valuable assets a country can possess. (Papadopoulos& Heslop, 2002:295)

Country Identity

According to Nworah (2004), Building the image of a country is the way through which a country is actively seeking to build a unique and competitive identity with the intention of positioning the country internally and externally as a good destination for trade, tourism and investment.

This identity is created based on the combination of exceptional factors of attractiveness that will enable it to be ahead of competitors, Moilanan and Rainisto, (2009). According to Buhalis (2000), these exceptional factors can characterize in the six A’s framework illustrated in the table below:

Table 1: Six A’s Framework for the analysis of tourism destinations

Source: (Buhalis (2000)

Main Components of Tourism Destinations

Attractions
Natural, man-made, artificial, purpose built, heritage, special events

Accessibility
transportation system, including routes, terminals and vehicles

Amenities
Accommodation, food and beverages facilities, retailing, and other tourists services

Available Packages
pre-arranged and tailor made holiday packages by intermediaries

Activities
all activities available at the destination and how tourists will keep themselves busy during their holiday

Ancillary Services
Services like banks, telecommunications, post, hospitals, etc

Elements of country identity

Elements of country identity are predominant and are stated to influence an individual’s `opinion of a country image that cannot be changed or manipulated for the purpose of place marketing.

The various aspects of country image that directly influences its image are discussed therein. However, for the purpose of this research, only few aspects of country identity, that directly impact on a destination’s image, are analyzed.

Country main factors

Country main factors describes various attributes of country identity, which are predominant and which are cited to impact on an individual’s perception of a country image and it cannot be changed or manipulated for the purpose of place marketing. The works within the theory are adopted from diverse sources like Beerli & Martin (2004), Kotler & Gerner (2002) Kotler et al. 1993, 121 – 135). Destinations– specific elements and their image significance are relatively obvious, because of the limitation of this research only few features of the country specific are addressed.

Personal factors

The image of a country is form based on the stereotypes that people hold on that place. Stereotypes of place or an image, develops over time and space and spread from the premises of the familiarity with illustrations of renowned people and knowledge of the products of a given country, etc. Because image is more of a personal interpretation, image that people have of a country differs from stereotypes. Hence, the image(s) that people have about the same place may vary depending on the individual’s own, wants, enthusiasm, prior knowledge and fondness (Beerli & Martin 2004, 653).

Personal factors can be classified as, psychological and social. Psychological factors have already been discussed in the consumer behavior section. Personal unique motivations, beliefs and personality, social aspects comprise of individual, educational achievements, age background and other social factors (Balogu & McCleary 1999, 870). Therefore, the attributes enumerated above, are said to affect a person’s assessment on any product, service and for the purpose of this research, a destination.

Geographical Location

When dealing with country image, the geographical location of the destination cannot be neglected. Geographical location refers to the accessibility of the destination, and it therefore influences the travelling costs to a given place (country). This aspect is important because it knowingly impacts on consumer’s choice to a long haul country (Vuoristo 2003, 55; Oppermann 2000, 99). Outstandingly, recently, most European tourists have been attracted to travel to closer destinations that meet their needs like “sun and shores” as Spain and Asia rather than opting for distant destinations. To respond to the demands of the European market, Asian countries have orchestrated their destinations because of its closeness to Europe and thus compete with low-priced packages compared to long distance locations like as Mauritius or Seychelles or even Australia.

From the point of view of European or American travelers, when considering time factor to travel to a distant destination and the cost of travelling as criteria, Mauritius in this instance is viewed as a distant location. To support this argument the number of European travelers visiting Mauritius has decreased from 51,529 in 2013 to 50,548 in 2014, for the month of January. (CSO, 2014).

Geopolitics

As far as geopolitics is concerned, the political atmosphere can influence the accessibility of the destination and the overall image of the said country. For example, during the period of Mao of China, his politics and opinions made tourists less keen to visit the destination. WTO has projected the future of China as being a leader in the world by being the first world class destination that will charm greatest number of tourists by the year 2020. Therefore, to cater for this market new China is determined to converting its politics, protocols and evolving infrastructures which now interest international investors, and tourists towards its destination (Weaver & Oppermann 2000). Political accessibility is the regulations, policies, concerning mainly immigration conditions under which a tourist is regulated to have access to that country. Complicated country accessibility in terms of tourist visas procedures, levying costly visas, complicated procedures contributes largely leads in demoralizing a destination image.

Climate and Culture

The attributes of climate and nature, impacts on the formation of country image to a great extent depending on the background of the individual in question. Furthermore, the necessity and wish for a change is among the most dominant factors in tourism decision-making. As a result, individuals coming from very cold climate are more likely to opt for warmer and exotic destinations. Persons coming from developed and urban background might be charmed by nature and adventure (Vuoristo 2003, 29). In instance, the rise in globalization is believed to fuel homogenous culture and tourists are highly interested in revisiting outstanding heritage locations so as to re-capture the lost culture and practices. For instance countries like Egypt, Istanbul and Italy are well appreciated by their profound heritage spots and rich history.

Distance – Decay

Distance decay indicates the tendency of inbound tourism moves to decline as areas become more distant from the destination (Weaver & Oppermann 2000, 98). Gallarza et al (2002, 61), suggest that distance plays an important role in the image formation process. It is also mentioned that the country’s size and global power regarding its economy and politics primarily impacts on the distance – decay effects. Luostarinen (2002) also shares this opinion, in his study he found out that the distance between country of origin and the target market impacts on the international market policy. Even if these studies have been dedicated towards organizations, however the same rules are appropriate with regard of tourist destination.

Travel Intermediaries

Travel intermediaries refer to travel agents and tour operators and they are considered as essential information facilitators. They are strategically positioned at the frontier and having direct contact with travelers or future travelers making them in a solid position to impose destination images to travelers based on the information that they have. Andreu et al. (2002) stated that travel intermediaries are important “protagonist” who spread information to tourists or possible tourists and thereby impact on, image and choices of travel. Therefore, tour operators or travel agents have the art of painting the picture of any tourist destination based on how they want to sell that destination.

Travel operators sell a destination with simple information retrieved from the countries they represent. The marketing material that is, brochures, web pages, personal experience, and so on are at their disposal and are significant in designing an unreal destination to the potential customers. The amount of information available on the internet has allowed travelers with a wealth of information at their disposals. With click of a mouse anyone can easily retrieve essential information about any destination. Therefore customers cannot be fooled easily. However, most travelers rely greatly on information given by those travel intermediaries whose trade is to deal directly on travel destinations.

Balogu & Mangaloglu (2001) have argued that images that travel intermediaries have of a destination is the same as those held by customers in general. Konecnik ( ibid) stated “ mainly for international destinations, the role of travel intermediaries in promoting and framing images of the destination is enhanced, because of tourists who are more apt to consider travel intermediaries in their selections of destination”

It can be said that travel intermediaries has an important role in image formation of a destination. (Ashwoth & Voogd (1994, 49)

Stimulus Factors

Concerning information source, Balogu and Mac Cleary (1999, 892) concluded that the variety and the quantity of information sources adds positively to a cognitive assessment of a destination. Hence, destinations need to encourage everyone to make use of several information sources available. In instance, Media has mainly arranged in painting US facade with image features perceived today (super power and wealth). Thus common media vehicles includes, television, radio, movie to internet has proved significant in dissemination of information to the general public. According to WTO (2006) “it is significant for marketers to tracking of new stories for necessary action. Instance, rapid response to erroneous information news stories affecting the tourism industry” World media leaders like as BBC, CNN acknowledge the role of media and its effects.

Identify the economic, social, and environmental impacts of tourism on Thailand

Thailand is a very popular tourist destination. Nowadays, the world is experiencing a shift away from traditional patterns of international tourism because of increased wealth and access to travel and as a result and as TEFLAsia illustrates, Thailand is now in fact Southeast Asia’s biggest tourist destination. The reasons for its popularity as written by STA Travel (2003) include the ancient architecture, warm hospitality, savoury cuisine and overall natural beauty. Amongst computer parts, garments, rice and jewellery, tourism is one of the major industries of Thailand and is heavily relied upon.

Thailand also receives higher levels of tourists as demographics change; older people travel more, more leisure time is available for individuals and because travel has become more sophisticated. Although, this has led to the development of more infrastructure and only now are governments and individuals alike becoming more aware of Thailand’s environmental, social and economic situations. This essay will establish the different impacts and effects that tourism has on Thailand.

There are numerous positive and negative effects of tourism on Thailand’s environmental, social and economical situation. The most recent and obvious impact on Thailand’s economy has been the Tsunami disaster on 26^th December 2004. The result of this disaster, according to Thadani, M (2005), will see the decline in the number of tourists who will visit Thailand in the coming years. Other negative impacts of tourism include the possibility of raised inflation so it is essential that the Thai government ensures that local people are employed to keep the money and skill within Thailand. Tourism accounts for 12.2% of Thailand’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and nearly, nine per cent of the population is employed within the tourism industry, a higher proportion of people to be affected if Thailand’s tourism industry collapses. Although, tourism in Thailand creates many jobs, these jobs are often poorly paid with little job security and have low career status. However, on a positive stance, tourism supports other industries such as agriculture because individuals are paid to supply extra food to accommodate tourist needs. This confirms that tourism is an essential industry for Thailand and in order for the country to prosper they need to attract the tourists, to avoid economic downturn. Further, without tourists Thailand would be significantly different and the more remote areas would suffer because tourists act as an economic catalyst for other areas of Thailand as well as the more popular resorts such as Phuket. Tourism can also be used as a tool for Thailand’s economic growth through improved conditions for the host community and will raise the profile of the country which will improve the level of service that can be provided.

However, the Tsunami is not the only disaster/ event to affect Thailand in recent years. The country has also had to deal with the indirect effects of the September 11^th 2001 crisis, followed by the SARS outbreak and also the Bali bombing attacks in 2003. All of which has reduced the number of tourists to Thailand. The effects of September 11th lead to a decline in outbound travel to Thailand, mainly from America and the SARS virus reduced all tourism to Asia except essential travel. After these events 2004 was showing signs of increased travel to Thailand until the Tsunami. As said by Thadani, (2005) the Thai Government were making efforts to invite tourists back to the country weeks after the disaster in a bid to prevent economic disaster.

On a more positive note for tourism and the Thai economy, the country appears to be working towards recovery despite having lost nearly 10,000 people (unofficial estimates), many of who were international tourists. Thadani (2005) suggests that the government is keeping the actual death toll low so that tourists are not deterred from travelling to Thailand, which heavily relies upon the income from tourism. Thailand is estimated to lose US$260 million a month as a result of this disaster, which could destroy the economy and create irreversible effects to the local community. However, it must be noted that although popular destinations such as Phuket and Krabi were badly effected, other hotspots like Bangkok, Samui Island and Chiang Mai, Pattaya remain completely booked.

Tourism brings many negative social impacts to Thailand as a host country of tourism. Firstly, tourism brings a change in characteristics of the host community. For example, many locals sell drugs to tourists as a way of earning money. The World Bank Office of Thailand recognises that, drug pushing creates problems such as anti-social behaviour, increased crime and reduced safety. This has an effect on tourist numbers as many will not travel to countries which are deemed unsafe. Further, as tourism grows in Thailand many businesses have moved from being run locally to being owned by national or international companies which creates leakages in the Thai government with less spending money going back into the Thai economy. Moreover, Thailand has seen an increase in staged authenticity for the tourists; local traditions have become a product for the tourist, which is slowly destroying the original culture in Thailand. Another, negative affect on tourism, according to Graham (2003) is the demonstration effect which creates a long term effect on the local community by being exposed to different cultures and wealth. This changes locals’ behaviour and needs and may for example encourage the Thai people to dress differently or abandon their religion.

However, tourism in Thailand has enabled the locals to earn money from the chores they initially completed in the home, such as cooking and cleaning. This has increased the living potential of many in the host community. Further, locals have a chance to mix with wealthier individuals which can give them an insight into what can be achieved if tourism is a success in Thailand.

As Thailand relies so heavily on the income from tourism, the tourists’ needs outweigh those of the hosts. Therefore, Thailand is creating facilities at a fast rate to cope with visitor numbers. However, the locals and the government must realise that Thailand’s environment forms the attraction for people to visit the country. According to STA Travel (2003), over-development on Ko Phi Phi is starving the coral reefs of sunlight and smothering the surface in pollutants: the destruction of the reef is a small example of the problems occurring throughout Thailand and blamed on tourism. If Thailand’s natural beauty is not preserved tourist will likely travel to other destinations in the future. Other negative impacts include the deterioration in air and water quality, mainly due to air traffic and the urbanisation of natural areas. A good example of this is Krabi; it was fairly undiscovered but now hotel resorts are quickly being erected which is diminishing much of the natural environment that pre-existed. However, these newly developed areas do have a proper sewage disposal facility which earlier tourism developments did not which illustrates the Thai’s awareness of the need for environmental protection due to the impacts of tourism. The following example further shows peoples’ awareness of Thailand’s environment being affected by tourism because in May 1999, STA Travel describes how protestors packed the beach where the filming of ‘The Beach’ was taking place. Environmentalists were concerned that filming would destroy the delicate eco-balance of the beach. These areas of natural beauty could well be conserved if awareness is created about the need for their protection due to increased tourism. This would create positive environmental impacts as Thailand can control and maintain its environment. An example of this is the Golden Temple which is located in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital. Through a visit I discovered that donations and government money are set aside to restore this building, which would otherwise be neglected.

In essence it seems that Thailand is aware of the increasing number of tourists over the years and is therefore trying to facilitate this by increasing the country’s infrastructure. The government should ensure they regulate developments to ensure that every new hotel, business and attraction is built in keeping with the local style otherwise tourist will lose interest in Thailand.

In accordance with Holden, (2000) Thailand needs to comply with four main requirements in order to ensure tourism is sustained. Firstly, it is essential that Thailand remains prosperous and maintains its original culture. This is likely to reduce the negative effects from tourism because and secondly, tourists will continue to demand trips and be attracted to Thailand. Thirdly, nothing must be done to the ecology; it must be protected in order for the natural beauty to remain and lastly, Thailand must ensure that it has an effective political framework in place. The abovementioned categories are used to establish issues and indicate if tourism has a positive or negative effect on the area in question. Holden describes that the impacts of tourism on Thailand can be identified by establishing the relationship between the natural environment, the local economy and tourism. To further explain the Thai economy is dependent upon tourism, if the country builds sufficiently and maintains environmental quality the country will likely benefit from a well balanced tourism industry.

If the tourism factors which affect Thailand are better managed, it will create sustainable tourism in Thailand. According to the UNEP (2002), managing tourism destinations is an important part of controlling tourism’s environmental impacts. As written by OurWorld, the tourism boom has had a negative effect on the Thai environment and as a result the government now manages ecotourism. Better management of tourism impacts will allow the Thai Government to better plan the use of their land, implement effective environmental regulations and rejuvenate buildings. Every environment in any country cannot be preserved intact, therefore it is necessary for the Thai government to use its resources sparingly within its limits of regeneration and natural growth. Furthermore, according to UNEP, the Thai government should establish licence fees for fishing and use these funds to maintain the forests and wildlife in Thailand. Better management of tourism facilities, especially hotels, will allow Thailand to preserve its buildings and natural beauty. I agree with the UNEP that by Thailand planning early for tourism development, damaging and expensive mistakes can be prevented, avoiding the gradual deterioration of environmental assets significant to tourism. In every respect, tourism has the opportunity to increase public appreciation of the environment in Thailand and spread awareness of environmental, social and economical problems.

As already mentioned tourism has a massive impact on the host community. It is also possible to better understand the impact of tourism on the tourist. Tourism in Thailand is becoming mass tourism and thus will become a greater income generator for the host community allowing them to improve their lifestyles. However, Buddhism is strongly indented into the Thai culture and tourism has not effected or changed the religion, which shows signs of a strong culture. The influence of tourism on the host community has however taken its toll as Thailand’s economy, amongst other aspects, has become too dependent on tourism and according to OurWorld people feel that change and development due to increased tourism is happening too fast. Moreover, the rapid change is due to the tourists’ increase need for tourism and their demand for better facilities and long haul holidays. These negative impacts have led the Thai government to introduce proper legislation to protect the poor Thai people and prevent tourists from destroying Thailand. According to ThaiTour, the government is looking to establish a ‘multi-agency’ task force to stop the confusion among the many different tourism departments in Thailand.

In all it is evident that many tourism factors are contributing to both positive and negative impacts upon Thailand. It is important that the country realises the problems and take steps to sustain tourism. The key is to find a balance to manage the effects of tourism on the country. The type and volume of tourists that Thailand attracts and their activities and behaviour in the country will influence the nature of their impacts. Effective planning, development, management and marketing of tourism are essential to optimise the positive impacts and control and reduce the negatives. Further, the more we educate the tourists and the local community about the effects of tourism the better chance of Thailand succeeding in sustainable tourism, a stable economy and protected environment.

Bibliography

The aim of the literature review chapter is to assess existing literature with relation to the study in order to know what researchers have told about tourism developments and perceptions. This chapter comprises an overview of the tourism industry globally, the tourism industry in Mauritius, tourism development in Mauritius, Integrated resort scheme and related literature review, perception and theoretical model, factors influence perception and empirical review.

According by the world tourism organisation, Fact and Finding Section; the significant growth of the tourism activity evidently shows that tourism industry is one of the most incredible economic and social phenomena of the past century. The quantity of international arrivals shows a progress from a mere 25 million international arrivals in 1950 to an approximated 806 million in 2005, equivalent to an average arrival growth rate of 6.5%.

Development was principally intense in Asian and pacific during this period for e.g.; 13% on average a year and in Middle East 10% while at a slower pace and slightly below world’s average growth. Market share of emerging destinations are gradually growing compare to establish regions such as Europe and the Americas. Europe’s world share declined by over 10 percentage point since 1950 whereas the Americas lost 13 percentage points. The market share of Europe has decreased by over 10% point since 1950 while the Americas lost 13% point. Europe and the Americas were two of the main regions which were receiving tourists between 1950 and 200. But with the credit crunch in 2008, figures have dropped as people have less money to spend and companies are unable to expand as rapidly.

However, although the evolution of tourism in the last few years has been irregular, UNWTO maintain its long-term forecast for the moment. UNWTO’S tourism vision forecasts that international arrivals are expected to reach nearly 1.6 billion by the year 2020. Of these worldwide arrivals in 2020, 1.2 billion will be intraregional and 378 million will be long-haul travellers.

Sources: http://www.tourismtravelasia.com/2008 03 01 archive.html

Background of tourism in Mauritius

The term “Tourism” is of recent origin. In other words it is of relatively modern origin. It is distinguishable by its mass character from the travel undertaken in the past.

Today tourism occupies an important role in our society. Like other industry tourism have attractive features. Due to its attractive features, various study has been undertake by some researchers and finally each one has their own perception of tourism and definition of it. Many definitions and explanations have been given by many writers and scholars in their own fashion for the term tourism. Let us see some of the definitions here to have a fair idea of tourism.

According to the great Austrian economist, Hermann V. Schullard says that “the sum total of operators, mainly of an economic nature, which directly relate to the entry, stay and movement of foreigners inside and outside a certain country city or region”. It is considered as one of the earliest definitions of tourism. He gave this definition in the year 1910.

The above definition of Swiss Professors Hunziker and Krapf was subsequently adopted by the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST).

The AIEST definition brings out the following three district elements of tourism:

Involvement of travel by non-residents.

Stay of temporary nature in the area visited.

Stay not connected with any activity involving earnings.

Tourism is, therefore, a composite phenomenon which embraces the incidence of a mobile population of travellers who are strangers to the places they visit. The above definition of various scholars and explanations of different writers obviously indicate the concept of tourism.

In Mauritius the tourism industry has been divided into eight different sectors or areas. For example;

Accommodation

Adventure tourism and recreation

Attractions

Events and conferences

Food and beverage

Tourism services

Transportation

Travel trade

Tourism industry in Mauritius has traditionally targeted a higher echelon clientele. Nowadays there have been new policies with the arrival of a new minister of tourism such as promotion of Mauritius by the MTPA in new market for e.g. china, Russia and India, creation new brand image such as “les iles vanilles” and duty free shopping. The clientele of the Mauritius tourism industry mainly come from Europe and in 2010 there has been particularly no change in tourist arrivals patterns compared to previous years. This can be illustrated in figure 1 in the appendix; tourist arrivals by region. Furthermore according to the central statistical office (CSO) and the bank of Mauritius (BOM), both arrival and tourism receipts recovered remarkably in 2010. As illustrated in appendix figure 2. The BOM’S official receipts for 2010 amount to RS 39.5 bn which are calculated based on “inward and outward remittances”.

Tourism in Mauritius is mainly concentrated in the coastal areas of the islands. In the budget 2011, the Ministry of Finance indicated that the state of Mauritius will invest Rs 1 billion over the next five years for the consolidation to the tourism industry and thereby boost the arrivals outside the Euro zone. Rs 2 billion are earmarked for the sector as a whole during the same period. In relation to tourist arrivals, the tourism statistics committee of Mauritius states that, there will be a 5.5% growth in tourist arrivals in this year and a strong growth of 8.7% was recorded in tourist arrivals for the month of September in Mauritius. This growth in September represents 65,404 visitors compared to 60,144 last year from the same period.

Nature of tourism in Mauritius

Mauritius is a small island found in the Indian Ocean. Tourism in Mauritius is mainly base on the 3’s that is sea, sun and sand. This resulted in tourists being kept within the four walls of the luxurious hotels. Mauritius put great emphasis on the mass tourism. Therefore in order to support this nature of tourism, it needs to be able to provide accommodation, attractions, hospitality and branding.

Accommodation such as hotels, form one of the most important factors that influence tourists to a country. Hotels in Mauritius are found within those of the world’s leading hotels. The major group in Mauritius concerning hotels are Taj brand, the oberoi, sun international group of hotels, group appavoo and beachcomber. The nature of tourism in Mauritius consists also of Attractions. First of all, it’s beautiful beaches and lagoons form part of the attractions that Mauritius propose, then we have also man-made park attractions like casela brid park and SSR Botanical gardens. Hospitality also plays an important role in the nature of tourism in Mauritius. Mauritius is well know and reputed for its legendary hospitality which is considered as one of the best in the world.

So in order to market effectively the nature of tourism in Mauritius, we had the slogan “Mauritius- No problem” and in 2009 the Mauritian government has come up with a new slogan such as ” Mauritius, c’est un plaisir”.

Tourism development in Mauritius:

Mauritius is becoming an important tourist destination in the Indian Ocean. In 1980, tourists spending were around $ 110 million (bank of Mauritius statistics, 2000). So in order to satisfy the needs and wants of visitors, the government of Mauritius has undertaken development, mainly hotel development. Hotel development in Mauritius was one of the main priorities due to the nature of tourism in Mauritius that is the concept of the 3’s (sea, sun and sand). Hotel development in the island has been subject to a rapid growth that is from 43 in 1980 to 95 hotels in 2000, (tourism authority 2010) with an overall rate of 182 per cent. Hotel development is also a way for the government of obtaining taxes from investors and to create employment. Hotel development in Mauritius has also contributed in promoting Mauritius as a tourist destination by embracing the ideas of “quality management” and initiating various programmes to improve the quality of services to meet international hotel standards (Nield and kozak, 1999; Ministry of tourism, 1998). Some hotels in Mauritius as already been accredited by certificate such as ISO 9000 (Sun Resorts, 1196).Furthermore in order to meet international standard, groups such as Beach Comber Group, has redesigned and reinvigorated in the new Trou Aux Biches hotel which will open after a complete reconstruction in November 2010. In relation to the hotel industry in Mauritius the previous Minister of the Ministry of tourism, Xvier Luc Duval announced that he liked to introduced as quickly as possible a new classification of the Mauritian hotels in comparison with their impact on environment.

On the other hand tourism developments in Mauritius are not limited to hotels but there exist also tourism development in the form of attractions and shopping and leisure areas. One of the main shopping and leisure areas is the Caudan Waterfont which faced the Port Louis harbour, Mauritius. It is one of the most popular places in the Mauritian capital due to the many ways through which people can spend their time. Others leisure development of this type are coming soon such as the project of ” Mall of Mauritius a Bagatelle”.

Diversification of tourism development

In Mauritius, tourism is one of the most important pillars of the economy. Mauritius is predominately a holiday’s destination for beach-resort tourists. It possesses a wide range of natural and man-made attractions. The Mauritius government expects 2 million tourist arrivals per annum by 2015. So, a new strategy of development has been defined called “opening of the sky” marketing action plan to develop new markets. In order to achieve the target of 2 million tourists in 2015, the government of Mauritius and investors are involving in the diversification of tourism products. Resent trends in the tourism industry is the introduction and promotion of Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS). The board of investment in Mauritius announced the launch of IRS in 2002. This is a program planned to make easy the possession of resort and residential property by non-citizens on the island. By buying an IRS villa, international buyers can become Mauritian residents as soon as they take possession of a luxury property on the island,” states the website of the Board of Investment. However a limit of less than 5000 such homes has been set to ensure the island does not become a new “costa del sol” in term of over development. Examples of this resent type of tourism product are Tamarina Golf Estate and Beach Club, Villa Valrich at Bel-Ombre and Anahita the Resort. These IRS are already in a position to welcome residents. Following this kind of development other project such as La Balise Marina will not take too much time to be in operation (gazette of lexpress; 26/10/2007).IRS villas are not only a way of having a lovely lifestyle and environment; but they can also be an investment for owners.

Literature Review
Related literature review on tourism development such as IRS

The intent of this research is to analyze the perceptions of the local people toward tourism development in Mauritius such as Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS). Integrated Resort Scheme is the new trends in the tourism and hospitality industry. “IRS projects will growth in the next ten years as its offer attractive package. The difference between luxury villas and IRS villas is that, “Many promoters agreed that the main differentiation between these two, is the fact that it makes it possible for foreigners to purchase a property in Mauritius and have the residential permit. In other words Integrated Resort Scheme is a way to facilitate the ownership of resort and residential property to non-citizen on the island”, according to Pauline Etienne. (2007). Title; “Private bungalows with hotel services”. L’express. Tuesday 26th October, p. 6. In relationship with what the article state about IRS programs, the board of investment’s website states that; “through the IRS, foreigners can become Mauritian resident as soon as they take possession of a luxury property on the island”. In the same article mentioned above, Shyma Soondor, the communication manager of Villas Valriche confirms that: “IRS villas are like a secure way for foreigners and their dependents to obtain residential permits”. In fact the IRS programs also represent a form of investment for the foreigners , David Martial, communication manager of Ciel Corporate Services point out that; ” if the owner chooses to spend only one month’s holiday in Mauritius, for instance he can chose to rent his villas so that he obtains a source of revenue from his villas. Moreover according to David Martial these villas can offer a “quality guarantee thanks to the international and local architectural.

In an interview of Alec Bates, partner in South Africa cities Valriche; ” who argued that tourism development such as IRS is an opportunity to foreigners to invest in the country and that IRS projects occurred primarily in developing country”, interview made by Deepa Bhookun. (2010). Title; ” Serait-ce les Mauriciens qui creent des problems”. L’express. Saturday, 6th June, p. 9. This therefore supports what David martial, communication manager of ciel has said with regard to the IRS projects.

In an article of Gilles Ribouet. (2006). Title; ” Entre enclaves de luxe et action social”. L’express. 7th May, which state that; “Villas of Tamarina from the group of “Medine” and Anahita from the group of “ciel” are the first two IRS in Mauritius. Tamarina Golf, Spa & Beach Club was the first to be into operation. The Tamarina Villas is from the Medine group which has adopted an integrated development plan”. Laurence Desvaux, Marketing Manager of Tamarina said that, “we have adopted a horizontal approach to land development in the long term”. Villas of Tamarin of different features such as private pool, 24hr security, air conditioning, a phone line and such services as landscaping, gardening, housekeeping, driver, cooks and babysister on request. In another article written by Pierrick Piedel in 2010, title; “Interview of Gilbert Espitalier-Noel chief executive officer of ENL property. L’express. Wednesday, 21th April, p. 9, this article talks about the large investment that IRS projects required. For example, Mr Gilbert Espitalier-Noel, Chief Executive Officer of ENL property states that; “he has invested Rs 10 billion in the construction of different projects”. He also mentioned that the investment cost for the Villas Valriche was Rs 4 milliards. In relation with the project of “La Balise Marina” an article has been published in the L’express newspaper by Fidele Honvou in 2009 in which he mentioned that the project of Balise marina is committed to contribute Rs 24 million to a fund for the socioeconomic integration of the local people of the region, of which Rs 10 million will be fund for training. The Balise Marina is the only IRS project based on a marina concept.

The IRS nowadays represent a different form of tourism which bring with it positive impact as well as negative impacts.

Projects under the Integrated Resort Scheme:

According to the Guidelines of Integrated Resort Scheme from the Board of Investment (2007), there is a list of projects under the Integrated Resort Scheme. This list is as follows:

Tamarina Golf Estate Ltd, which is locate in a village called Tamarin in the west of the island.

Anahita World Class Sanctuary, which is located in a village called Beau champ.

La Reserve leisure Resorts Ltd, Location; Flic en flac.

Belle Riviere Promotion Ltd, Location; A village called Bel Ombre

Villas Valriche, Location; Bel Ombre

Club med Villas IRS, Location; Albion

Dolphin Coast Marina Estate Ltd, Location; Riviere Noir

Barachois Villas, Location; Tamarin Village.

Matala Properties, Location; Riviere Noir Village.

Cliff of Maconder, Location; Maconder, Baie du Cap

These are therefore the ten projects under the Integrated resort scheme according to the guidelines of IRS from the board of Investment (2007).

Importance and relevance of considering the perception of local people for the tourism sector.

Local people perception about tourism development is an important element that investors need to take into consideration when developing tourism project for example such as IRS. It is advisable by some researchers such as Ap, 1992 to consider perception of local people while planning and marketing tourism development, because it might ensure the success of the project. Considering perception of local people toward tourism development could also be a valuable element in identifying and measuring tourism impacts (Getz, 1994). On the other hand Dyer et al 2007, has also found in his research that tourism perceptions by host community residents have gained academic attention during the last decades, and their importance issues, in terms of sustainable development, has been acknowledged. We can see that the findings of Ap., 1992 and Dyer et al 2007 have some similarities. Perception of the host community concerning tourism development is definitely affected by the impact of tourism in general. It is why that some authors have analyzed the perception of local people by taking into account the economic, social and environmental impact. For example considerable number of studies have been developed by taking into consideration the perceptions and attitudes towards sociocultural impacts (wall and athieson, 2006).

Therefore according to some studies such as; ( Ap,1992; Dyer et al 2007; Getz, 1994), they have found the importance of considering host community perception on the planning and marketing of tourism development. Due to that it is therefore vital that investors and promoters of IRS take into consideration the perception of local people before and when operating this type of tourism development. One method, by which investors can do it, is by conducting Social Marketing. This is a way by which the promoters can gather information concerning local’s resident perception on tourism development such as IRS in Mauritius. Finally many authors such as; Andereck and Vogt 2000; Ap 1992; Davis and Morais 2004; Ko and Stewart 2002, found that community need to support the tourism development, because it play an important role to the success of the development.

Theoretical models to study resident’s perception

There are different model that has been used to study the resident perception of a community and also to analyze the relationship that resident perception and tourism development might have. Undoubtedly, one of the most significant and earliest models is Doxey (1975) that is the Index of Tourist Irritation or ” Irridex”. This model comprises of four stages, which attempt to explain host community responses to tourism development. This model agreed that negative impact of tourism development can lead to irritation in the community. Therefore according to Doxey (1975) such irritation will determine by the degree of relation between residents and tourists. Under this model the residents’ perception vary from euphoria, to apathy, to annoyance and finally to antagonism. On the other hand, by supposing that communities are not necessarily homogeneous, a former model suggested by Butler in 1974, were used to explain the host attitudinal/behavioural responses to tourist activity. Compared to the Doxey’s model, Butler’s matrix argued that a large amount of opinions may be found within the host community and that opinions can indeed change in any one of the four direction derived from the matrix. According to Ryan (2003), the doxey’s models represent the general tendency of opinions and views of the community. Thirdly compared to Doxey’s and Butler models, Dogan (1989) has create a framework by taking into consideration the impact of tourism development and the behavioural responses adopted by residents. It focuses on response to tourism impacts rather than attitudes. Dogan (1989) proposes six strategies in order to cope with the effects of tourism. Such strategies are; Resistance, Retreatism, Boundary maintenance, Revitalization and Adoption. Similarities that Dogan’s models and Butler’s matrix have is that they both recognises that the heterogeneity of host population implies that several responses, which will vary considerably depending on the relationship between tourist and residents. Another framework that can be used to help us to understand the perception of local people is the Ap and Crompton framework (1993), according to this framework residents’ reaction to tourism could be placed on a continuum comprised of four strategies: Embracement, Tolerance, Adjustment, and Withdrawal. Social exchange theory suggests that people evaluate an exchange based on the costs and benefits that are going to be involved in the exchange. Residents are willing to exchange with tourists if they receive more benefits thancosts (Jurowski, Uysal & Williams, 1997). An exchange process must satisfied four conditions which are need satisfaction, exchange relation, consequences of exchange and no-exchange outcome (Ap, 1992). Three main

elements that can be found in the exchange process are economic, socio-cultural and environmental effects. Using social exchange theory, Jurowski, Uysal, and Williams (1997) developed a model that integrated factors likely to influence reactions towards tourism. In their model, they proposed that perceived potential for economic gain, use of resource base, attachment to one’s community, and attitudes towards the preservation of the natural environment will influence how residents perceived the economic, social, and environmental impacts. Gursoy, Jurowski, and Uysal (2002) criticized model by Jurowski, Uysal, and Williams (1997) for aggregating the costs and benefits into three categories, and further breaking down the perceived impact into five areas that are economic benefits, social benefits, social costs, cultural benefits and cultural costs. Perdue, Long, and Allen (1990) used social exchange theory as foundation to test the validity of the argument that the individual who gains benefit from tourism will more likely to support tourism development Therefore, these are some models that are used to understand the perception of local resident toward tourism developments. So the government of Mauritius might used these models in order to analyzed the perception of local residents toward tourism development in Mauritius and thus introduce policies based on what they have found through these models.

Factors influencing perception of local residents towards tourism development such as Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS)

It is hard to understand that there are actually countries that still want to increase their arrivals of tourist rather that setting policies such as maximum capacity to maintain competitiveness and sustainability (Loannides and Holcomb, 2003:42). Factors that influence the perception of local resident can be classified as follows: Socio-cultural, Economic and Environmental impact of tourism.

Socio-cultural Factors

Socio-cultural factors play an important role on the perception of people toward tourism development such as IRS. For example in an article (Title: “La balise Marina se concretise”) published in the l’express newspaper by Fidele Honvou on 2009, in which he mentioned that the project “La Balise Marina” is committed to contribute Rs 24 million to a fund for social integration and of which 10 million will be for training of the local people to help them to obtain a job in the tourism industry. Therefore based on this argument, the perception of local people toward this project will be more or less positive as they will also benefits. In relation to this article, there has been another article (Title: ” Entre enclaves de luxe et action social) published in the l’express newpaper by Gilles Ribouet on 2007, in which we can read that, Medine group has established a learning centre in order to train people living in the locality and then give them a job mainly in the IRS project of Tamarina. Here also this will positively influence the perception of local people toward that IRS project ( Tamarina Villas). Beside the various facilities that these investors are provide to the region in which they developed their project, there are also various socio-demographic variables that will influence the perception of local people. These variables are gender, age, birthplace and level of community attachment, ethnicity, education level and length of residence. Some studies have shown that these variables could have an impact on the perception of local people. For example; Braunfels, Texas, Um and Crompton (1987) Found that German ethnicity was a factor in attitudes toward tourism development. Discovering that the more attached an individual was to the community in regards to their length of residence; the less positively they were towards tourism development. Thus according to what these researchers have said we can assume that local people that lived on the littoral since their birth will have a negative perception on IRS projects.

However, to support the results of Lui and Var’s 1986 on the Hawaiian residents who did not find any significant differences in attitudes and perception based on ethnicity and length of residence, Allen et al’s (1993) study of 10 rural Colorado communities found no significant influence of length of residence on attitudes toward tourism development.

Economic Factors:

Another factor that will have an influence on the perception of host community is the economic impact. For example in an article (Title: “Il y a une mauvaise perception des IRS a Maurice”) published in the l’express newspaper which is based on the interview of Nicolas Vaudin, General Manager of Ciel Properties by Akilesh Roopun in 2006. In that article, according to Mr Nicolas Vaudin, Anahita Project will help to create jobs directly and indirectly. Therefore this argument has obviously a positive impact on the perception of the local resident. To support what Mr Nicolas Vaudin has told about the IRS in term of economic impacts, in an article published in 2007 by Gilles Ribouet which title is, “Entre enclaves de luxe et action sociale” in which it was said that, the IRS project is a component of a comprehensive integrated development plan that will benefits people in term of employment. In IRS project we much recognized that the jobs created by tourism are mainly in the area of personal services such as housekeeper, cook, landscaping and gardening. So job creation is the most important economic impact associated with tourism development. As tourism developments create jobs, people will have a chance to increase their income and thus have a better standard of living (Cattarinch 2001; Lewis 1998; Quinn & Strickland 1994; Wilson et al.2001; Wyss 2003). For example, in the small Caribbean island of Barbados, the percentage of job creation by tourism industry is 30%. In Mauritius, tourism provided employment directly for a provisional 21,100 people in March 2002 (Africa South of the Sahara 2004 by Europa Publications p. 725). Therefore, we can say that people who are involved directly in the tourism industry have a positive perception toward tourism development. For example, a local resident who gain a wages from the tourism industry may tolerate tourism-induced traffic congestion as he or she is obtaining a personal economic benefits (Pearce, Moscardo, and Ross 1996). On the other hand, Smith and Krannich 1998 has found that local people who depend on tourism to obtain a salary prefer less tourism development and perceive the impacts of tourism as more negative than the residents of communities that depend less on this activity.

Environmental Impact:

Another impact of tourism that might have an influence on the perception of local people is the environmental impact of tourism. As we know the tourism industry does not only create jobs and enhance the cultural knowledge but it also have a positive and negative impact on the environment and its biodiversity. For example tourism researchers such as; Liu & var; 1986; Liuat al, 1987) suggest in their studies that host community resident’s may view tourism as having both positive and negative physical and environmental impacts. The positive impact that tourism development can have on the environment are; tourism can encourage country to protect their natural beauties such as in Mauritius where we have Black River Gorge, chamarel and so on. Tourism can also encourage countries to create park such as in countries in Africa where they can practice safari as a tourist activities. In relation to the positive impact of tourism on the environment, Mc Cool & Martin, 1994; Matheison & wall, 1982 suggest that tourism creates opportunities for the conservation and preservation of natural areas. The environment is an important element in the tourism industry. Therefore to support what Mc Coll & Martin, 1994; Matheison & wall, 1982 has found, Cohen, 1978 argued in his study that tourism provides a reason to preserve the natural scenery and man-mad historic sites, traditional towns and neighbourhoods, villages, lighthouses, harbours and fishing piers. Positive impact of tourism development on the environment will definitely influence positively the perception of local resident. However, tourism development has also negative impacts on the environment. Liu et al, 1987 argued in their studies that the negative environmental impacts which emerged frequently are littering, overcrowding, traffic congestion as well as pollution of water and soil along with the deterioration of natural resources as a result of the construction of tourism development such as hotel. For example in the Caribbean island, 70000 tons of waste water is release in the sea, these solid waste and littering can damage the physical appearance of the water and shoreline and cause the death of marine animals. Another example of the negative impact of tourism on the environment is in Mediterranean where intensive tourism development such as hotel has caused three- quarters of the sand dunes on the Mediterranean coastline from Spain to Sicily to disappear. Thus due to these negative impact, local resident perception toward tourism development may change negatively. In order to ensure that tourism development will be socially and environmentally responsible we can involved the local people in the planning and operational stages of the development in order to take into consideration their opinion and feeling.

Another way to prevent negative environmental impacts is that, the number of visitors should be limited, regarding the carrying capacity, to prevent pollution and other types of destruction of the natural resources (Burke et al 2000; Pattulo 1996).

Empirical Evidence:

There is some Empirical Evidence that supports this research of local perception. These empirical evidences include studies such as; Robin Nunkoo (2010), senior lecturer at the University of Mauritius, who have investigate on local perceptions toward Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS). From his investigation he has found that the problem with IRS is that they’re a form of enclave tourism, which is completely detached from local communities. Furthermore in relation to local perception, there are some Empirical Evidence that shows the relationship between tourism impacts that is Economic, socio-cultural and environment and local perceptions. These Empirical Evidences includes studies such as; Pizam, 1978; Pearce at al, 1996; Belise E Hoy, 1980; Husbands, 1989; Lankford and Howard, 1994 have

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

TABLE OF CONTENT

TOPIC PAGE(S)

Project background

Objectives

Literature review

Methodology

Understanding the rationale for planning in the travel and tourism industry

Benefits of planning of tourism development to stakeholders

Advantages and disadvantages of public private sector tourism planning partnership

Understand the different approaches to tourism planning and development

Features of tourism development planning at different levels

Significance of interactive planning systems and processes in tourism development

Different methods to measures tourist impacts

Understanding the need for planning for sustainable tourism

Introduction concept of sustainability in tourism development

Factors that may prevent/hinder sustainable tourism

Different stages in planning for sustainability

Understand current issues related to tourism development planning

Methods of resolving a conflict of interest to ensure the future well being of a developing tourism destination

Implication of balancing supply and demand

Moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism

Understand the socio-cultural, environmental and economic impacts of tourism in developing countries and emerging destinations

Comparison of current issues associated with tourism and development in a developing country and an emerging destination where the impacts of tourism are different

Recommendation

Conclusion

References

Appendices

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Tourism has been a major contribution to the Jamaican economy; however tourism in Jamaica needs sustainable development. The aim of this project is to give an understanding of sustainable tourism from a Jamaican framework. Sustainable tourism is tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the environment and host communities defined by (WTO 2014).

In this project a scenario was given where the ministry of tourism contracts a consultant to develop and plan tourism due to the fact that Jamaica is heading to become unsustainable. In this project you will have analysis, recommendation and solution to the tourism industry in Jamaica.

The importance of this project is to give an understanding of the planning in the travel and tourism development and how it can benefit stakeholders. It is important for stakeholders to understand the tourism planning and development at different levels along with their significance. Since it is said that the Jamaican tourism is heading in an unsustainable direction, therefore it is of great interest to know what it is of great interest to know how to become sustainable different stages and how we can prevent it. Information is shown of how important public private sectors are in the tourism industry and their disadvantages. The public private sector must understand the socio-cultural, environmental and economic impacts of tourism in Jamaica. All of these impacts are what causes the Jamaican tourism industry to be heading in an unsustainable direction so the private and public sector can partner to help mitigate these issues.

OBJECTIVES

There are five objectives of this project as followed:

To assess the importance of planning and development in the tourism industry
Identify the benefits of planning and development to each stakeholder in the tourism industry
To determine the sustainability of the Jamaica tourism and how it can be maintained
To identify the impacts of tourism in Jamaica.

LITERTURE REVIEW

(WTO 2014) defined sustainable tourism as tourism that takes full account of its current and further economic, social and environmental impacts and addressing the needs to visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities. The Jamaican tourism is having failures and heading to an unsustainable market however it has some great attraction (sun, sand & beach). (JTB 2014) analyzes the element of tourism products which includes accommodation, transportation, attractions and tours, dining and entertainment (inclusive of festivals & events) and the support service.

According to (Edward 2009) tourism does not benefit the people of Jamaica because 80% of traveler’s expenses go to airlines, hotels and other international companies and not local businesses or workers. (Edward 2009) also gave market failures of the tourism in Jamaica such as low skilled employment are provided, unplanned settlements and squatters communities that are established close to resort areas that causes solid waste, inadequate sewage treatment, and tourism entities that are currently gaining all of the rent are also not accounting for the negative and external effect of their activities. (Ringo & Martin 2013) analyze the benefits of tourism such as the gaining of foreign exchange, providing jobs (directly and indirectly), developing income and developing infrastructure.

There are five reasons why the Jamaica’s tourism is stated as unsustainable. (TPDCO 2014) summarize the five reasons such as growth rate, competitive advantage of the industry, the wider product outside the hotels is poor, the degrading of the national environment and the view of Jamaican is that the industry is not beneficial. However (JTB 2014) recommended ways to shift from unsustainable to sustainability through five objectives such as enhancing the visitors experience, growth based on sustainable market position, community based development, inclusive and industry and environmental sustainability.

METHODOLOGY

UNDERSTANDING THE RATIONALE FOR PLANNING IN THETRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY

BENEFITS OF PLANNING OF THE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TO STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholders are the person or group who has interest in an organization. Planning of the tourism development is putting things together actions such as infrastructure, co-operate plans etc. stakeholders involve in the planning of tourism in Jamaica are JTB, TPDCo, Ministry of Tourism, Jampro, JHTA etc. Other stakeholders who benefit from the planning of tourism developments are the communities, visitors and non-government organizations.

Ringo & Martin (2014) wrote an article about how important is tourism to Jamaica, which gave ways that tourism, benefits the stakeholders of Jamaica. The planning of tourism development is beneficial to the government and its agencies because for the past years tourism has generated the highest level of foreign exchange (approximately US$2b). Foreign exchange benefits the government, their agencies and locals indirectly. However, it is said that the government gain direct benefit from the increase of income whereas tax revenues will increase.

The article also states the benefits to local Jamaicans through employments. The planning of tourism development provides jobs for communities and other local Jamaicans such as vendors etc. Statistics shows that employment through tourism provides approximately 200,000 persons directly and indirectly. Jobs that are provided directly are hotels, crafting, transportation, attractions and indirect are trading, bank etc. Infrastructure can be beneficial to not only hotels and resort but also the public facilities. Infrastructure has to be improved to accommodate tourist that are at the airport to hotels. For example the Norman Manley Airport road has just been improved. Locals also benefit indirectly from the increasing of foreign exchange.

The planning of the tourism development is also beneficial to tourist/visitors. If tourism is developed then it would attract more visitors to the island. This will improve the visitor experience and will come again to endorse in our culture and, our sun, sand and beach.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PUBLIC PRIVATE SECTOR TOURISM PLANNING PARTNERSHIP

According to DBJ (2012) public private partnership is a long term procurement contract between the public and private sectors, in which the proficiency of each party is focused in the designing, financing, building and operating an infrastructure project or providing a service, through the appropriate sharing of resources risk and rewards.

There are recently public private partnership for tourism planning between JTB and JHTA. Public private partnership can bring advantage to tourism or disadvantage. However, the partnership between JTB and JHTA has brought advantage to the planning of tourism in Jamaica which is to gain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is the main advantage of public private partnership in tourism planning. The public sector will transfer their knowledge while the private do the same to create ideas and increase innovation for the destination of Jamaica. JTB and JHTA have created a ‘give away’ of free rooms which would enable a little competitive edge to attract visitors. The partnership project creates not only a competitive edge but also innovations and new ideas. Another advantage of the PPP is the risk sharing. When problem arise the party who can best manage this problem, the risk would transfer to that party. Another example of PPP was with Lover’s Leap and Ministry of Tourism which would enable to provide jobs to the community members and involve them in participating in tourism. Private sector provides finance and service, where the public sector depends solely on them. For example NTO and JHTA. The private partner manages complex financial and technical task while the public sector deals with law and policies. Therefore the combination of the two brings higher value and minimizes cost. PPP share technology that will enable projects to finish faster and reduce delays.

On the other hand there are disadvantage that affect both private and public sector and both. Although risks are shared, most of the risk sometimes goes to the private partner and overall the government will be responsible in the final aspect. So we can say that although risks are shared most risk is on the government. The projects of public private partnership may take years to finish and this can be an disadvantage for the planning of tourism development. Political problems may arise for example if the government changes and they no longer want to be involved in that partnership then this cause a problem for the private sector.

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Introduction

This section is a body of text that aims at reviewing the critical points of current situation including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Wiersma, (1995) proposed that, the review of the literature provides the background and it should establish the need for the research and indicate that the writer is knowledgeable about the area. Wiersma, (1995:406).Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to review the materials from different authors who have made contributions on the role of infrastructure facilities in tourism development. It includes theoretical literature/global literature which are studies on infrastructure and tourism from global perspective and empirical literatures which are studies done on the topic from Tanzania and in Africa region.

THEORETICAL LITERATURE

Despite infrastructure being an intrinsic part of tourism, there has been little research undertaken on the detailed relationships between tourism infrastructure and tourism development. Gearing et al (1974) study on the case of Turkey as a tourist destination found that infrastructure (comprising roads, water, electricity, safety services, health services, communications and public transportation) is a key determinant explaining tourist arrivals. Tang and Rochananond (1990) concluded that infrastructure is an important element in promoting Thailand as a tourist destination country. Kim, (2000) in discussing the case of Sun Lost City, South Africa, and McElroy (2003) in discussing small islands highlight the importance of infrastructure, particularly government financed infrastructure, in the success of a destination.

On the other hand, Murphy, Pritchard and Smith (2000) relate infrastructure to demand and supply analysis and describe how various components of the destination interact with tourists. Gunn, (1988) defines the product as a complex consumptive experience that results from a process in which tourists use multiple services (information, transportation, accommodation, and recreation). On the other hand, Smith, (1994) acknowledges the role of service infrastructure in creating a product experience. He argues that service infrastructure is housed within the larger macro-environment of the destination and that infrastructure and technology in a destination is key features that can enhance experience. (Smith 1994:51)

The importance of roads as one of infrastructure for tourism has been emphasized by Crouch and Ritchie, (1999) who analyze the product in the context of comparative and competitive advantage, they emphasized that, state that tourism planning and development would not be possible without roads, airports, harbors, electricity, sewage, and potable water. (Crouch and Ritchie, 1999). Kaul (1985) is among the first to recognize the importance of transport infrastructure as an essential component of successful development in that it induces the creation of new attractions and the growth of existing ones. The Tourism Task Force (2003) of Australia asserts that, transport is a big part of the equation. This system is responsible for connecting tourism-generating regions to destinations.

The connection between infrastructure and tourism is emphasized in numerous professional studies, which underline, on the one hand, the special role of tourism development in the infrastructure’s modernizing, and on the other hand, the reverse direction, the generation of multiplication effects of infrastructure development upon tourism Gunn and Var 2002; Eagles and McCool 2002). Today, the infrastructure development represents a preoccupation of the decision factors and specialists from almost all fields, for the elaboration of detailed plans regarding the infrastructure development, the transport infrastructure having an important role (Boers and Cottrell, 2007; Culbertson, et al, 1994; Beedasy and Whyatt 1999; McAdam 1999; Itami et al, 2002).

Generating multiplier effects is conditioned by the way relationships between infrastructure, tourism and local economies are managed, at the level of all decisional levels (Wells and Brandon 1992; Peptenatu et al, 2009; Kinnaird and Hall 1994; Milne, 1998; Belsky 1999; Swyngedouw, 2000; Drake, 1991; Teague, 1990; Milne and Ateljevic, 2001; Milne and Gill, 1998). In many professional works, the importance of infrastructure in the evolution of touristic phenomenon, especially from the qualitative point of view, is considered to be a determinant factor for the tourists’ satisfaction, this psychological state being the basis of a certain territorial competitiveness in this field (Alegre and Cladera, 2006; Crompton, 2003; Bigne et al., 2001; Kozak and Rimmington, 2000; Yoon and Uysal, 2005). In the professional literature, a special attention is given to the quantification of infrastructure role of all types in the tourism development within a space (Crotts and Pan, 2007; Petrick et al., 2006; Pritchard and Havitz, 2006; Ravenscroft and Rogers, 2003), as well as the elaboration of some complex standards for the appreciation of territorial systems’ idiosyncrasy at touristic development (Matzler and Sauerwein, 2002; Crompton, 2003; Jensen, 2004; Chan and Baum, 2007; Truong, 2005; Truong and Foster, 2006).

The development of touristic infrastructure supposes the elaboration of detailed territorial management plans, able to ensure balanced relationships between the territorial systems’ components, especially between infrastructure and economy, on the one hand, and the rural environment, which very often feels the development of touristic activities, on the other hand (Wiener, 2006; Weaver, 2001; Andersen & Miller, 2006; Christensen et al., 2007; Cottrell and Meisel, 2004; Garrod and Wilson, 2003; Cottrell and Graefe, 1997). The development of touristic infrastructure has a fundamental contribution to the increase of the complexity of touristic phenomenon, which contributes to the increase of functional complexity and territorial competitiveness. Infrastructure’s development attracts a series of activities, which accompany the touristic phenomenon, upstream and downstream (Bulbeck, 2005; Knight, 2005; Maneesha, 2006; Lovelock, 2008; Andereck et al, 2005).

Prideaux, (2000) argues that a destination should be easy to get to and easy to get around. Most tourists, being citizens of developed countries, are accustomed to modern and efficient transport infrastructure, and they expect to experience in the destination country comforts similar to home (Cohen 1979; Mo, Howard and Havitz 1993), failing which they will seek alternative destinations.

EMPIRICAL LITERATURES

Tourism is one of Tanzania’s most important economic sectors, contributing 17% of GDP between 2003 and 2005, second only to agriculture’s 46% (MLYED, 2007). While tourism’s growth rate is difficult to separate out from the trade, hotels and restaurants sector in which it is classified, one estimate places its growth at 5.5% per year between 1998 and 2002 (World Bank/MIGA 2006), and a second at 7.4% per year between 2001 and 2006 (PHDR 2007). This contrasts to the agricultural sector whose growth rate has been declining as has its share of employment (from 84% in 2001 to 76% in 2006) and GDP (from 30% in 1998 to 25% in 2006).

The research conducted by Bashagi, and Muchapondwa, (2009) on assessment of the actions that could boost international tourism demand for Tanzania revealed that, tourist preference also has a significant impact on international tourism demand for Tanzania. The result implies a small proportion of tourists either return to the country or recommend the country to others. Since 81 percent of international arrivals to Tanzania are motivated by leisure, there is a need to improve tourism hospitality (customer service) to enhance tourist preference for the Tanzanian tourism experience. Some of the activities which could be undertaken in this regard would be the training of staff in the tourism industry, the improvement of tourism infrastructure such as roads and hotels, and aggressive marketing of Tanzanian tourism products to the world.

On the other hand, report submitted by Mitchell, and Faal, (2008) on making success work for the poor package tourism in Northern Tanzania revealed that, although the Northern Wildlife area is Tanzania’s major attraction, the unanimous opinion among both European and US tour operators is that it is becoming overcrowded, particularly in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are too few options for tour routes on the Northern Circuit – only one road in/out and very limited accommodation choice. (Faal, J. & Mitchell, J. (2008).

Research conducted by Williams S., (1998), concluded that, ‘like many developing countries, infrastructure in Tanzania is fragmented and is in urgent need of rehabilitation if the country’s development plans are to be achieved. Private investment (both foreign and domestic) in tourism is directly related to the availability of adequate infrastructure (roads, water supply, telecommunications and power supply) and the involvement of the Government of Tanzania in the provision of essential public infrastructure is crucial for the expansion of the tourism industry. (Williams S., (1998:14). Therefore, it is true to say that, the provision of the basic public infrastructure not only increases the flow of visitors to the various sites, but also lowers the operational costs of the hoteliers which will ultimately further enhance the attractiveness of the sites as tourist destinations.

In addition, the results of a public-private sector consensus building workshop held in Dar es salaam (2001) on the key challenges and opportunities regarding the tourism revealed that, tourism infrastructure was described as embracing such things as roads, airports, railways, Parking areas, water supply, power services and signage. It was emphasized that the way people get to Tanzania and the basic utilities available to them on arrival and during their stay could significantly affect Tanzania’s ability to attract tourists. The workshop ended by reaching consensus that, tourism services should include accommodation facilities, camping facilities, Restaurants, fuel stations, banking facilities, and other retail businesses and services in Tanzania that take care of tourist needs.

SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH GAPS

Having gone through the above literature, the study observed that, for tourist activities to flourish in the northern circuit there is a need for government and other stakeholders to invest more on tourism infrastructure facilities. For example, air ports/ airstrips, hotels and utility because this sector of the economy generates more income to the individuals, companies and a country in general. It is through tourism activities the problem of unemployment to the youths can be alleviated, that leads to per capital income of Tanzanians to increase through tourism and consequently national development increased foreign exchange earnings.

The researcher observed that, although tourism in Tanzania is mainly concentrated in the Northern Circuit, but also most of literatures concentrated much on one or two type of tourism infrastructure like road, accommodation, or communication and no one had said about the general role of infrastructures facilities like Road/Air transport, Accommodation, Communication as well as utility; such as water and power/electricity in tourism industry. The investigation of this study is supported by Tanzania tourism sector survey (2009), as shown in the figure bellow which developed to shows visitor’s views on the area of tourism attraction that need improvement.

Figure .1 Areas that need Improvement

Source: Tanzania Tourism Sector Survey, 2009.

The figure above show that the Tanzania Tourism sector took various views from selected number of respondents on the areas in the tourism sector that need to be improved, as a result, majority of respondents pointed infrastructure as an areas which need immediate improvement.(Tanzania Tourism Sector Survey, 2009:15). This aroused the interest of the researcher to assess the roles of all types of infrastructures on tourism development especially in the northern circuit.

2.5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

According to Sekaran, (2002) theoretical frame work is the foundation on which the entire research project is based. “It is a logically developed, described, and elaborated network of associations among the variables deemed relevant to the problem situation and which have been identified through such process as interviews observations and literature survey”. (Sekaran, 2002:102).

Conceptual framework of this study has three types of variables namely; independent variable, moderating variable as well as dependent variable as they are illustrated in the figure 2.2 below.

OF THE THESIS

Figure 2.2 A Schematic Diagram of the theoretical Framework of the thesisDEPENDENT VARIABLE

TOURISM INDUSTRY
MODERATING VARIABLE
TOURISM POLICY
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURES

Source: Author, 2012

Independent variable

Independent variable in this study is tourism infrastructure, because these are the catalytic for trade, investment and growth in the tourism and other industries. The main four independent variables are – Transportation infrastructures, Accommodations infrastructures, communication infrastructures as well as utilities infrastructure. The mentioned infrastructures have been explained as follows;-

Transportation infrastructure. This encompasses roads, railway, airport/ airstrips, transport facilities (vehicles, wagons, aeroplane units and balloons). Easy access to tourism destinations in terms of international transport and facilities for easy movement within the destinations are generally considered to be prerequisites for the development of tourism.Transport infrastructure enable not only tourists to reach the park and go back to their destination, it also help to transport huge amounts of goods to tourist resorts, hence to reduce cost of services to tourist resorts.

Good tourism infrastructures determine the length of stay of tourists in a particular area. Good infrastructure makes availability of goods and services for tourists become cheaper. Through the researcher’s observation on the services offered in the northern circuit, he concluded that, most services offered to tourist especially to the tourist resorts are very expensive due to difficult in transporting those services to resorts caused by poor loads.

Accommodation infrastructure. This includes hotels, restraints, and campsites. Good accommodation services to the tourists attract them to stay longer to the park hence increase national income of the hotel or campsite and the entire country. The absence of quality food, quality rooms, customer care and recreation in hotels discourage tourist to stay at a particular area of tourism destination (park). This statement has been supported by the study conducted by Okello and Yerian (2009) they concluded that “tourist satisfaction for all the parks is independent of tourist attractions, accommodation facilities, and tour services”. (Okello and Yerian (2009:15)

Communication system infrastructure. This includes communication networks through internets and telecommunication system. Reliable internet connections, the use of online payment as well as good telephone networks are the key issue for tourist attraction within the area. Most of international tourists pay their bills by using online methods like master cards as well as online checks, the presence of networking system in the parks will make tourist not to travel with money in their pockets as they do today, which is very risk for tourists.

Utility infrastructures. This utility infrastructure includes water supply and power supply. The adequate supply of electricity as well as clean water to the tourist sites is vital for the development of tourism because most of tourisms expect to get all services like in their home countries, things like warm swimming pools, laundry, dry-cleaning, lighting, entertainment including videos, television, radio, night clubs and elevators requires good flow of electricity in tourist destination. Good and pure water supply systems is one of the most important requirements for the development of tourism facilities is an adequate and continuous supply of safe water for drinking purposes as well as domestic and recreational use. Not only that, but also good waste disposal methods are good attractions for tourists.

The influence of infrastructure facilities on tourism development have also been emphasized by Crouch and Ritchie (2000) whereby they pointed various factors that are suitable for tourist attraction in a specific area that, various infrastructures like shopping, food services, travel services, transportation as well as accommodation services were regarded as catalysis for tourism development as the figure bellow shows:

Figure 2.3: Tourist Infrastructures

Source: Crouch and Ritchie, 2000.

Moderating variables
Tourism Policy

In this study, the moderating variable is Tanzania tourism policy of 1999, which was adopted in 1991 to provide the overall objectives and strategies necessary to ensure sustainable tourism development in the country. Knowing the potentiality of tourism sector, as a strategy for poverty alleviation, the National Tourism Policy of Tanzania was reviewed in 1999 to cope with the dynamism of the tourism industry.

The overall objective of the policy is to assist in efforts to promote the economy and livelihood of the people, essentially poverty alleviation through encouraging the development of sustainable and quality tourism that is culturally and socially acceptable, ecologically friendly. (URT, 1999:13)

According to this policy, it spells out that the private sector plays a major role in the tourism industry’s development, with the Government playing the catalytic role of providing and improving the infrastructure as well as providing a conducive climate for investment. The policy seeks to market Tanzania as a favoured tourism destination for touring. It is recognised that the private sector will play a major role in the tourist industry development, with the government playing the catalytic role of providing and improving the infrastructure as well as providing a conducive climate for investment. URT (1999:14).

Strategies for Tourism Development.

There have been various strategies spelt out by the Government of Tanzania as far as tourism industry is concerned, this have been insisted more after establishment of Tourism Master Plan (2002) which outlines strategies and programmes for the sector. The primary focus of this plan is to obtain sustainable benefits for the people of Tanzania by generating additional economic activity from available resources. Six primary areas addressed by the Integrated Tourism Master Plan are the following:

Creating greater awareness of Tanzania in the tourism source markets.

Expanding tourism products.

Securing a more competitive position.

Maximizing the necessary service skills.

Establishing the necessary structures and controls to underpin tourism development.

The tourist master plan (2002), spelt out what Tanzania offers to the tourism, these included abundance, diversity, reliability and visibility of wildlife, unspoiled environment and beautiful scenery, low tourist density, safe destination, beaches (Europeans), authenticity and the ‘unique African experience’, real Africa and cultural experiences as well as friendly people (Tourist Master plan 2002:24)

Having recognized the importance of infrastructure in tourism development, Tourist master plan (2002) has spelt out various infrastructure strategies targeted for investment such as roads, airports, utilities, as a prerequisite to investment in the tourism superstructure of hotels, lodges, camps, etc. (Tourist Master Plan 2002:76)

The tourist master plan spelt out that, “in order to further reduce the present dependence on Kenya as the main gateway for tourists to Tanzania, there is need to attract additional international flights to Kilimanjaro and Dar-es-Salaam international airports, and to improve the facilities at these airports; there is also a need to improve internal access by road, rail, air, boat to enable tourists to more easily visit parts of the country other than the Northern Wildlife Area”. (Tourist Master Plan 2002:76).

Dependent variable

The dependent variable in this study is the tourism development; for a country to develop its tourism industry, there must be variety of tourism attractions, Tanzania has variety of tourism attraction almost in every region, and the most blessed area is the northern circuit with Kilimanjaro Mountain, Ngorongoro crater, Serengeti national park, Arusha national park, Tarangire and Manyara. For these attractions to be fully utilized and increase national income there is a need for public sector investment on various infrastructures that facilitate tourism activities.

The importance of tourism cannot be under estimated because tourism industry is one of the main sources of national income in Tanzania. Performance of tourism industry in Tanzania increase every year, therefore for massive flow of tourism activities, Tanzania through the Ministry of Natural resources and tourism, should firstly improve and modernize infrastructure facilities before advertising various attractions to the international tourists.

The Tibet Autonomous Region, covering an area of 1.22 million square kilometres, is situated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the south-western border area of China. It enjoys unique plateau environment. Averaging more than 4,000 meters in elevation, it is always regarded as the highest region in the world and is known as “the roof of the world”. Tibet abuts on Xinjiang, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan province. It has 3,842 km borders with China’s neighbouring countries of Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal as well as Kashmir in the south and west (Zhang & Zheng 2004).

Tourism is playing an increasingly crucial role in Tibet’s tertiary industry. Even though these is unique natural and culture tourism resources, tourism were developed in Tibet very late. Prior China’s reform and opening-up policies in 1978, there was almost no tourism in Tibet. After about 30 years, tourism in Tibet has become much more developed, especially after the Qinghai-Tibet railway has been completed and operated. In 2008, there were 2,246,400 tourists visiting Tibet, which bigger than the total number of tourists who went to Tibet between 1980 and 1997(China Tibetology Research Centre 2009). (Figure 2)

Figure 2: Changes in Tibet’s Tourism Revenues and Number of Tourists Between 1980 and 2008

figure 2.jpg

Source: Tibet Statistical Yearbook 2009

2.3 SWOT analysis

To understanding the characteristics of tourism in Tibet and its internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats, SWOT analysis will be presented.

Strength

Diverse tourism resources. Tibet’s long history, splendid culture and its unique plateau environment are all important attractions of Tibet.

Regional strength. As China’s border areas, Tibet borders with India, Nepal, and Myanmar etc.

Political strength. The implementation of the strategy for the development of the western region of China gave Tibet powerful political support(Meng & Huang 2007).

Weaknesses

Undeveloped transportation.

Lack of overall strategy.

Poor infrastructure. The number of hotels, travel agencies and facilities cannot meet the growing demands of visitors (Meng & Huang 2007).

Opportunities

Government support. The Chinese government not only operate some politics but also invest huge amount of money into tourism development of Tibet.

Huge demand of tourism market. Domestic tourism demand is growing and some restrictive factors affecting the tourism demand has been alleviated (Meng & Huang 2007).

Economic development of China.

Threats

Stiff competition

Relationship between development and protection

Figure 3: SWOT analysis of tourism in Tibet

2.4 Tourism market

These years, the number of tourists visiting Tibet soars. Since 1980, the Tibet’s tourism market can be separated into three stages. Firstly, from 1980s to 1990s, international visitors dominated the tourism market. However, from 1990s, domestic visitors increased rapidly. For instance, in 1996 the number of international visitors is 2500 while as domestic visitors is 250,000 (Tan 2006). In 2004, the number of visitors even surpassed one million. The third stage is from 2006, when the Qinghai-Tibet railway has been completed and operated. The number of domestic visitors changed tremendously, reaching five million in 2010.

2.5 Proposed growth value
3. Transport system in Tibet
3.1 Responsible agencies and firms

The government of China is the main organizer of the construction of Tibet’s transport system. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, the state invested huge amounts of funds in Tibet’s transport construction. The transportation within Tibet and between the autonomous region and other places has been fundamentally changed. Take Qinghai-Tibet Railway project for instance, the Central Government has invested around US$3.17 billion in it. In addition to the investment, Chinese government also drew up a series of new principles and policies to assure that the construction of transport in Tibet will be processed smoothly, among which the western development strategy is the most significant one. With this strategy’s implementation and the close attention of the regional government, great effort has been taken to support the development of Tibet transport system.

3.2 Existing transport system

Before 1949, there was no road in Tibet. Through the gorgeous mountains and vast plateau plains, caravans journeyed on dangerous paths with heavy loads. However, currently, the transportation network is in place, with highway transport as the main part, supplemented by rail and air transportation.

Road transportation

Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the decades of construction has brought Tibet four inter-provincial roads connecting Tibet with Sichuan, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Yunnan. The major roads include Qinghai-Tibet Highway, Sichuan-Tibet Highway, Xinjiang-Tibet Highway, Yunnan-Tibet Highway and China-Nepal International Road. The travel routes inside the region are formed on a road network with the major roads and their branches.

At the end of 2008, including these five national highways, there are altogether 15 trunk lines and 315 feeder lines in Tibet, and the total length of the roads in the autonomous region reached 51,314 kilometres. Over 92 percent of the township and nearly 72 percent of the administrative villages have been connected with roads.

Figure 3: Road Map of Tibet

tibet-road-map.jpg

Source: www.discovertibettour.com/tibet-maps.html

Figure 4: Major Trunk Highways

Qinghai-Tibet Highway

From Xining in Qinghai to Lhasa in Tibet

Known as the “lifeline” of the autonomous region, the highway caries more than 80percent of goods into or out of Tibet. The 2,122 km highway is paved with asphalt. Rising over 4,000 meters above sea level, it crosses the Kunlun and Tanggula mountains.

Sichuan-Tibet Highway

From Chengdu in Sichuan to Lhasa in Tibet

Extending 2,413 km, the highway links Tibet with various provinces in southwest China

Xinjiang-Tibet Highway

From Yecheng in Xinjiang to Ngari in Tibet

Extending 1,179 km, it is the highest highway in the world

Yunnan-Tibet Highway

Form Xiaguan in Yunnan to Mangkam in Tibet

The highway extends 315 km.

China-Nepal Highway

Rom Lhasa to Friendship Bridge in Zham, Shigaze of Tibet to Kathmandu of Nepal

The highway extends 736km.

Railway transportation

Although covering about one eighth of China’s land area, Tibet was previously the only province level region not accessible via railway. Qinghai-Tibet railway is the only rail transport to Tibet. Before the opening of the railway, visitors could only reach Tibet by air or road. This railway measures 1963 kilometres from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, which is the world’s most elevated and longest plateau railway (Cao & Lin 2008). Along the way 965 kilometres of the railway are located over 4,000 metres, over 600 kilometres traverse the perennial frozen tundra. At the highest point, the Danggula Mountain pass is 5,072 metres above sea level. Thus, Qinghai-Tibet Railway is often called as “railway on the rooftop of the world”. However, although it is more convenient and cost-effective, it is the only railway to reach Tibet.

Figure 3: Railway from and to Tibet

tibet-railway-map.jpg

Air transportation

The air route over Tibet is the most efficient way for communications between Tibet and the rest of the world. The first air route was started in Tibet in 1956, which is from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, to Lhasa (Pan & Liu 2006). Till now, air routes between Lhasa and cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi’an, and Guangzhou have been established. In addition, the international air route between Lhasa and Kathmandu, Capital of Nepal, has also been open for traffic. However, there are only five civilian airports in Tibet: Gonggar Airport of Lhasa, Nyingchi Airport, Bangda Airport of Qamdo, Ngari airport and Shigatse Airport, among which Ngari airport and Shigatse Airport were first put into use in 2010.

Figure 4: Map of Tibet flight routes

map-of-tibet-flight-routes.gif

Transportation of cities and towns

The cities and towns in Tibet all have certain roads connecting each other. But there aren’t many transportation vehicles. It’s hard to predict which part will be the toughest in a trip.

In Lhasa, Shigaze, Zetang and other larger cities, mini-buses, taxis, or tricycles can be chosen.

Buses with 35 seats run to all major tourism sites and the price is always 2 Yuan each person with in the unban sphere.

There are now over 1,200 taxis in Lhasa and its suburbs. In the urban area, a trip by taxi usually costs 10-15 Yuan.

In Lhasa, tricycles will cost from 2-5 Yuan for two persons. They are found near the Barkhor Bazaar. In addition, many hotels in Tibet can rent bicycles.

Some scenic spots in Lhasa are not connected with buses yet. Across Tibet, many vehicle companies and travel agencies can help tourists rent vehicles for long-distance journeys. The average cost is 2.5-8 Yuan per kilometre and it differs according to the type and function of the vehicle and the condition of the travel route.

3.3 Deficiencies

Since Tibet’s unique natural geographical and economic backwardness, its poor transport infrastructure cannot meet the requirements of the rapidly growing tourists. Transportation restricts the overall development of tourism in Tibet.

Transport infrastructure is seriously lagging behind.

Firstly, the total length of road is short and the density of transport facilities is low. The density of roads in Tibet is only 3.36 km each 100 square km, which is the lowest province among the country, comparing 17.82% of the average density of national roads (Cao & Lin 2008). These five main highways connecting with other provinces in China are fragile and easy to be affected by natural disasters. In fact, among these five highways, only Qinghai-Tibet Highway can be open throughout the years, others just can be opened seasonally.

Furthermore, comparing with Tibet’s 1.22 million square kilometres of regional area, the number of airport is too few. During tourist season, domestic routes are obviously insufficient. The only international airline is from Kathmandu to Lhasa. Due to the lack of other international non-stop flights, most tourists have to choose Beijing-Chengdu-Lhasa or Shang-Chengdu-Lhasa routes, which greatly increased the length of journey to Tibet and the airfare is considerable high.

Lastly, railway line is single. Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the only railway transport in Tibet. Since it was constructed on the average of 4,500- 5,000 metre Tibetan Plateau, the maintenance of it is incredible difficult.

The development of transportation in the regional area is uneven.

Tibet’s transport is concentrated in the relatively developed middle area. In contrast, transportation in southern Tibet and north-western Tibet is extremely backward. Most of roads are in low quality, even fragile and easy to be influenced by natural disaster. Western Tibet is the most isolated area. Some of areas are still undeveloped. It is urgent need to improve the transport conditions.

Low quality of transport services

The level of transport services directly related to the tourists’ evaluation of destination (Su & Wall 2009). Tourism transportation services not only include tourism projects, information of destinations and choices of transport, but also include accommodation, catering and other related security during the process of travel (Duval 2007). However, when travelling to Tibet, there would be some problem about traffic cannot depart on time and some tourism project and exact security information cannot be provided to tourists.

Strategy

In order to enable tourism transportation to adapt to the increasing demand of tourists in Tibet, effective scientific strategies should be made to cope with above deficiencies and to assure the transportation system in Tibet would have further improvement.

To meet the rapid development of tourism industry, it is necessary to expand the size of transport network to further improve the transport system. In terms of railway transport, fulfil the capacity of railway transport, expend access to and within the Tibet is of importance. It is proposed to construct more railways, like Yunnan-Tibet Railway, Gansu-Tibet Railway and Sichuan-Tibet Railway. The first regional railway, Shigatse- Tibet was proposed to built, which would be complete in 2014.

As for road transport, it is suggested to upgrade level of roads, increase management of maintenance of roads to improve disaster-combat capacity. In the national twelfth five-year development plan, regional government decided to made great efforts to develop road transportation in Tibet. In the Fifth Central Discussion Meeting on the Work of Tibet, central government also decided to accelerate construction of road network, with Lhasa as the centre, five State roads as the branches, and the district, county, township and border defence roads as the basis. Currently, the only way from Lhasa to other tourist attractions is road transport. However, some private road accessing to attractions is in the poor quality, which reduces the accessibility and influences the tourists flow. Some scenic spots in Tibet are not connected with roads yet. Thus, it is crucial to increase access level of these places.

As to air transport, according to the principles of rational distribution, it is suggested to increase the number of airport to incorporate all major cities and towns into national air routes network. With the increasing number of tourist, it is necessary to open some routes to Hong Kong, Tokyo or New Delhi and some tourism developed cities.

Improve the serves of tourism transportation. According to the situation of Tibet, tourism transport sector should improve the level of roads, choose convenient routes, and provide high quality means of transport. In addition, multi-channel and multi-ticket booking service should be provided to minimize transfer time.

Today the tourism industry in Malaysia is getting development and becoming one of the worlds most attractive travel destinations, as well as in the economic and social development has also become important. The local and foreign tourists to the development of tourism had become major contributor to the country’s economy. According to Thrust one of the Ninth Malaysia Plan states the Governments said that tourism is become the intention to boost up the value chain on the several areas that had been focused. As we know, the tourism industry in Malaysia is an important foreign exchanges earner which contributing to the economic growth, attracting more investment as well as increasing the job opportunity. While promoting the domestic tourism, at the same time, strengthen the country’s position as a leading tourist destination abroad also become one of the key concern by the Government and mostly the supporter are come from the entrepreneurs, business owners and investors. Besides, the Ministry of Tourism will take the lead in developing the industry, while Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Tourism Centre and Virtual Malaysia will work together to promote the diversification of the country’s tourism products and services regardless in local or abroad. As tourism industry has become one of the sources of Malaysia’s economic, therefore increase in tourism activities had generates multiplier effects in other sectors of the economy such as the hotel industry, retail businesses, restaurants and transportation. Therefore, today, tourism industries in Malaysia are getting important in order to boost up the economy of Malaysia as well as increase the popularity and awareness from the publicity.

1.1Background of Study
1.1.1 Tourism Industry

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and a major source of foreign exchange and employment opportunities for many developing countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, etc. Tourism is important in many countries, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization World Tourism barometer said that, because of tourism is the factor of the country’s economic growth. Many of us have been “tourists” when we travel to other countries, but at the same point in our lives, the definition of the tourism industry is very difficult to define. As we know, tourism activities, and live in places outside their usual environment for more than a year of casual business or other purposes.

The tourism industry is a vibrant and competitive industry, it requires the ability to constantly adapt to customers’ changing needs and desires, customer satisfaction, safety and enjoyment, and this is the most particular of tourism enterprises. The tourism industry is divided into five different sections, such as accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation and tourism services category in both outbound and inbound tourism and travel industry.

1.1.2 Tourism Industry in Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the Southeast Asian countries, on a peninsula of the Asian continent, to a certain extent; it can be recognized as part of the Asian continent and the northern part of the island of Borneo. In efforts to diversify the economy and make Malaysia’s economy is not dependent on the export-oriented government to increase tourism in Malaysia. Experimental results show that tourism has become Malaysia’s third largest foreign exchange earner, accounting for the Malaysian economy in 2005, 7%. As of 2011, Malaysia was ranked the top 9 in the world’s most visited country, behind Germany.

The government agency has the responsible for the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB). In 1999, Malaysia launched a worldwide marketing campaign or slogan is called “Malaysia Truly Asia”, which is largely successful, bringing more than 7.4 million tourists to Malaysia.

In addition, we also know that, in the Malaysian tourism activities is for improving Malaysia’s tourism services. The Malaysian tourism main objective is to attract more tourists therefore they are put more efforts in order to ensure that visitors to stay longer, as well as to earn some profit in the process, such as taxes, their room and board, and transportation. In addition, by improving Malaysia’s tourism industry, will also increase employment opportunities for local people, because when the progressive development of their tourism industry, so they need more manpower to maintain or improve their quality of service. Also assist in the creation of employment opportunities, the contribution of tourism in Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP). Furthermore, the ranks of the tourism industry in Malaysia are rank in top 3th in the international tourism market.

The tourism industry in Malaysia as the world’s most attractive industry, as well as become of great significance in the economic and social development. Wide range of local and foreign tourists to the development of the tourism industry is a major contributor of the country’s economy.

According to thrust one of the provisions of the Government in the Ninth Malaysia Plan, tourism is the intention to upgrade a few areas of the economy up the value chain and it has focused. As we know, the tourism industry in Malaysia is to contribute to the economic development of an important source of foreign exchange earnings, attracting more investment and increase employment opportunities.

At the same time, to promote domestic tourism and to strengthen the country’s position as a leading tourist destination there has also become one of the main issues of concern in a foreign country by the government and the main supporters from entrepreneurs, business owners and investors.

In addition, the Ministry of Tourism will take the lead in the development of the industry, Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Tourism Centre and diversification Virtual Malaysia will work together to promote the country’s tourism products and services, either locally or abroad. As tourism in Malaysia has become one main source of economy, and the increase in the multiplier effect of tourism activities, such as hotels, retail, restaurants and transportation also is sectors of the economy.

1.1.3 Malaysia

With the slogan “Malaysia, truly Asia”, of different ethnic and religious matters Malays, Indians, Chinese and many other ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony. Multiculturalism, not only to make Malaysia become one of the delicious gourmet paradise, it also made aˆ‹aˆ‹Malaysia home to hundreds of colorful festivals. No wonder Malaysians like celebrations and social events. (Www.tourism.gov.my) Malaysia has been conservative as one of the best travel secrets in the world. Malaysia also offers a wide variety of dishes, designed to attract all tastes, most important, the price is relatively affordable. (Www.oppapers.com) Malaysian tourism industry has been rapid development, because the top of the government own the high quality of the natural and cultural tourism resources, effectively propped up. Malaysia has become the second largest source of trading foreign currency (foreign exchange) and the third largest economic sector. But by virtue of the excellent on-site, we should have a clearer understanding of the weaknesses and problems of Tourism Malaysia Tourism industry, continue upward, more efficient. (Www.oppapers.com)

Malaysia is a great place, full bubbling; bustling melting pot of race and religion, Malays, Indians, Chinese and many other ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony. One of the main attractions of Malaysia is the extreme contrast. Towering skyscrapers look down on the wood frame houses on stilts, and five-star hotel, sitting a few meters away from ancient coral reefs. Cool hideaways are found in the highlands roll down, warm sandy beaches and rich, humid mangroves. In the other world, the tourism industry in Malaysia to become the world’s most attractive resort, as well as become of great significance in the economic and social development. Furthermore, a wide range of local and foreign tourists to the development of tourism as a major contributor to the country’s economy.

Malaysia is one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest and most developed countries, Malaysia Malay, Chinese and Indian people, the world of mixed incentives and charming position, any visitor.

Malaysia is divided into two distinct areas, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. The hillside east side of the peninsula is the national capital of Kuala Lumpur. This made the development of Kuala Lumpur as one of the Asia’s most pleasant and most attractive cities. Peninsula impressive infrastructure, coupled with the beautiful scenery, the fun of travel is not a chore. As close to the equator, about 20-30 degrees Celsius, little change in Malaysia’s humid climate throughout the year. In Malaysia, Malay is the national language, although in their respective ethnic groups.

Besides that, Malaysia also can categorize as food heaven. Malaysia is the country’s racial mixture therefore it gives rise to a cuisine that is as diverse as it is delicious for example one of the Malaysia creation that everyone seems to enjoys is “satay”, which is make by the delicious meat kebab in a spicy peanut sauce.

1.2 Problem Statement
1.2.1 Nature of Problem

There are few problem had affecting tourism industry in Malaysia.

Based on the article titled “Foreign countries contemplate travel advisories after church attacks in Malaysia” taken from theedgemalaysia.com, there is shows that there are Foreign countries contemplate travel advisories after church attacks in Malaysia

(According to theedgemalaysia.com, 2010)

Based on the article title “Terrorism affect Tourism” taken from wihp the all-inclusive hotel marketing agency, there is shows a statistic tourist arrival was decline after terrorism attack Malaysia.

http://asmaliana.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/msiatouristarrival.jpg

(According to wihp the all-inclusive hotel marketing agency, 2008)

1.2.2 Factors contributing to the problem

According to some of the embassy’s diplomatic aides, is in the midst of drafting travel warning their citizens to Malaysia. “While we appreciate that,” Allah “issue and the church attack is a strictly internal affair, we are considering a tour, said:” speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the staff of foreign embassies. The relative safety of travel of the information provided by the hotel’s tour is a notice issued by a government agency or access to one or more specific target.

(theedgemalaysia.com, 2010)

Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Minister of Tourism, Government is worried that the latest flammable church attacks are likely to have a national impact on the tourism industry, and may be a threat to the sector’s growth, her current mental anxiety, feeling very sad that this will affect the economy and industry. She said: “This is the era of communications, so the rapid dissemination of information tourists will choose not to visit a country faced with conflicts, especially religious conflicts. Church attack, sending the wrong message to foreign tourists always advertised as Malaysia harmonious national whether it’s a gourmet paradise, multicultural society, however, the Department does not receive information event in tourist arrivals in Malaysia, we are monitoring the development through our overseas offices.

(Zen, 2010)

Massacre in Malaysia is located in Southeast Asia, and it is adjacent to the Bali bombings in Indonesia and southern Thailand militant killed many civilians just across Malaysia’s northern border. This makes only Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, so far without any terrorist attacks or activities. Issues facing as the neighboring countries, such as terrorism and the internal war, we worried about global tourists may feel that the entire area is unsafe. Because the terrorists now targeted destination hotels and public restaurants, you certainly do not want to take extra care when sleeping, the bombed hotel fear or do not eat or shooting blindly at the famous restaurant.

(According to wihp the all-inclusive hotel marketing agency, 2008)

1.2.3 Impacts of the problem

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen told Bernama, January 10, 2011 (Sunday), worried about attacks may be a threat to the growth of tourism. Members said that foreign tourists are considering religious tensions in Malaysia may lead to fear, thus affecting the country’s economy. She added that the church attack, sending the wrong message to foreign tourists in Malaysia has been touted as a harmonious country, despite its multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. “However, in terms of security, the embassy and the police and Interior Ministry officials in the answers given on Monday satisfied,” she added. ((theedgemalaysia.com, 2010)

1.2.4 Promising Approaches

With the aim to resolve the political instability in Malaysia it need to take several steps to avoid the decline in the tourism industry in Malaysia. In this regard, the Government’s implementation of the rebound joeuThe law, its goal is “no one can side jump, there is no one in the party resigned from the party, because they want to jump ship to the other. Example: this happens in Perak.

Malaysia is the implementation of anti-terrorism legislation, in order to overcome the problem, the performance improvement due to terrorism, calls the internal security of Art (ISA). ISA target limit self-assembly, and freedom of movement of tourists.

Nowadays, many countries try to diversify their countries’ incomes and do not focus on few sources. Economists emphasize on the bad impacts of the intensive usages of natural resources on countries that only depend on natural recourses as the main source of income. Therefore, most of the countries look for new source of revenues to increase their countries’ GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Tourism industry became an important sector that contributes (give some figure if you can get) in many countries GDP around the world. United Arab Emirates is one of the oil economy that is diversifying from depending on oil and gas contribution to other sectors. (give reference of Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, they have discussed about this objective) UAE makes great efforts to develop its tourism sector to play a significant role in the country’s economy growth. There are many activities which participate in developing the tourism industry in UAE such as creating tourism authorities (give name such asaˆ¦.), organizing festivals (give some name.eg. Formula 1 also attract tourists), participating in international events and involving trade to advertise about UAE tourism.

UAE is a federal government which consists of seven emirates. It is ruled by H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. All of the seven emirates contribute on the development plans and GDP income. UAE free market attracts many investments either from inside or outside the country and creates an ideal place for business. Political stability and free trade policy with no income (personal and corporate) taxes make UAE an excellent place for financial investments. UAE’s GDP rate is increasing yearly as shown in the following graph which proves the country’s healthy economy.

Source: TradingEconomic.com; The World Bank Group (give full reference such as Year, place etc.)

From the 21st century there was an increase in the UAE economy dependence on variety of sectors like manufacturing, trade, and tourism. The UAE was on the highest 32nd on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index for 2006-2007 and took 29th place on the networked Readiness Index in the same Forum (United Arab Emirates, Ministry of Economy, 2007). In 2008, Travel and Tourism sector’s contribution to the UAE GDP ranks it to be on the top of the 11th countries of the Middle East with an amount of 22.6% and rate of 13.5% according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (Staff Report, 2008). As a result of this achievement, UAE keeps on developing more tourism projects. One month ago, news declared that UAE will put $234 billion on the future tourism projects which may lead to 85% of tourism investment in the region by 2018 (AlArabiya, month ? 2010). Also, the numbers of tourists raise 16% (from —— to ——– give figure if it is available) comparing to last year according to Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority since UAE is one of the countries that has a rapidly increase number of tourists.

Establishing Tourism Authorities

Although there is no independent ministry for tourism in the UAE, UAE Ministry of Economy and Federation of UAE Chamber of Commerce and Industry participate in developing the tourism sector in UAE through provide many facilities and services that encourage tourist to visit the country. Therefore, many of the international hotels, firms are encouraged to open new branches for their firms around UAE Emirates. The number of tourism authorities in the UAE increases because many of the Seven Emirates believe in a vision to make their emirates to be the most attractive cities for tourists. Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority are examples of tourism authorities that have established in different cities. Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority was established in 1996 to be responsible for arranging activities related to commerce and tourism locally as well as internationally. It develops a strategic plan to achieve the Emirate’s goals by using all kinds of media to show Sharjah as historical attractive place and at the same time a place for leisure and entertainment activities. It also enhances the Emirate participation in local and international tourism exhibitions (Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, 2010). Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing is the second by establishing date in UAE. It was founded in 1997 to promote, plan and evaluate the tourism activities in the Emirate. DTCM is responsible for advertising Dubai as attractive place and increasing the number of tourist to Dubai. It controlled 18 offices around the world which facilitate investments in hotels, departments and exhibitions in Dubai. Providing training and high standers skills for employees in the tourism sector under the supervision of expertise in the field is another role for DTCM (Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, 2010). Since Abu Dhabi entered the tourism sector lately, its Tourism Authority was established in 2004. Nowadays, many tourists’ eyes are on Abu Dhabi as a good place for tourism because of the great efforts of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. ADTA cooperates with private and public organizations in the Emirate that are involved in tourism field. Conferences and exhibitions organizer work together with ADTA to develop the city tourism view. There are many physical constructions process to support the city tourism. Working on Abu Dhabi shore and Islands to build international tourism investments are things Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority responsible for. Al Saadiyat Island is one of Abu Dhabi huge projects that will play an important role in the promotion of Abu Dhabi tourism. This project will bring many of the international museums to the land of Abu Dhabi like Louvre (Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, 2010).

Organizing Festivals & Exhibition

UAE Tourism Sector is growing and developing rapidly as a result of the government efforts to make the country one of the attractive countries around the world. Tourism Authorities in the country play a vital role in planning and organizing festivals, exhibitions and conferences to promote UAE position in the international tourism. They also don’t participate in events that are related to the tourism field, but as well in other events that may present UAE positively. For example, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority participates in the Hannover Fair one of the largest industrial exhibition in the world as part of its promotional plan of the city and the country. This Fair helps to open some tourism business with to the city. The Authority also organized exhibitions and festivals such as Abu Dhabi international hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, Abu Dhabi Film Festival and Formula One Race which is an excellent opportunity to attract international tourists to visit UAE and Abu Dhabi. Also, there are many upcoming events that the authority will organize this month like World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Junior Golf Championship and Abu Dhabi International Motor Show (ADIMS) (Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, 2010).

Dubai government as well makes distinguish efforts to support UAE position in the international tourism world. DTCM organized many festivals that become well known to people around the world like Dubai Film Festival which introduced Dubai to the world through inventing the most global and famous actors to present their work. Dubai Shopping Festival is an important event that not only encourages the financial investments in Dubai, but also strengths the tourism business of the city. GITEX (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) also participates in the development of the tourism sector in the country. This Exhibition brings firms and people who are interested in technology to Dubai to present the latest inventions enhancing the city tourism side. Another significant event that is organized for entertainment and tourism purposes is Global Village. It is an event where countries from around the world come together to trade in one place. This village is opened yearly in Dubai with an increase number of local and international visitors. Each Emirate of the United Arab Emirates tourism can be seen from different perspective. For example, Sharjah is known of its cultural tourism because of the government’s concern for museums and cultural activities and events. Sharjah World Book Fair is an important event that is held annually introducing people to famous publications. It also conducts workshops and introduces different writers and critics to people.

On the other hand, UAE held many international conferences on business, medical, educational and technological topics in which it received many approvals for the conferences success. These countless conferences result to put UAE on the top of the preferred countries to hold conferences. UAE was ranked the fifth of the best destination for holding conferences as stated in The Country Brand Index which was announced in the World Travel Market in London (BusinessIntelligence Middle East, 2007).

Trade & Tourism

UAE strategy to develop the tourism sector involves arranging many activities that lead to potential positive consequences. For instance, participating in international exhibitions, festival and conferences directs the world to make a successful business with UAE. Many famous firms and hotels are opening their branches in most attractive side of the country. Also, the number of tourists has been increased recently. In the Dubai, there is 70% increase in hotels occupancy from last year (Kapur, 2010). Abu Dhabi hotels also show a raise in guests’ number. For example, in August, the increase rate was 15% comparing to the same month last year (Deputy, 2010). If we talk about the recent event that happened few days ago in Abu Dhabi “Formula One”, we can expect the huge profits hotels may receive from high number of guests from around the world. This event also enhances the business relationship with other countries which may results to new financial investment. As a result of tourism flourishing, UAE Economy develops and achieves good reputation. Therefore, UAE GDP is expecting to grow 2% by 2010 comparing to 1% increase in 2009 (UAE Interact, 2010).

Conclusion

It is clear as discussed above, that UAE government tries to have different resources for supporting its economy and GDP. It is sequentially not depending on oil and gas revenues, but it is looking for other resources like investing in tourism industry. UAE made huge efforts in developing the tourism and making the country one of the distinctive country in tourism field. It arranged and participated in international exhibitions and conferences presenting the country identity in many fields such as educational, political, technological, economical fields. In my point of view, UAE Tourism will keep blooming and participating with an increase rate in the country GDP according to the country strategic plan. It is really interesting to see these growing numbers of tourists from over the world visiting UAE and establishing valuable opportunities for international business. Since UAE is well known country with its tourism and economic sector, it has to maintain these achievements by keeping up the good business relationship with other countries. Also, UAE must think of an approach to develop other sectors to push them up to be one of the competitor countries with many flourishing sectors around the world.

Introduction

Bulgaria is one of the most visited countries in Europe. Situated in Southern Europe and occupying northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria has many attractions that keep more than 5 million tourists visiting the country annually. Tourism has been one of the most important sectors of its economy for a long time since it started a revolution about 10-15 years ago. In 2006, more than 6 million tourists visited the country. This number reached about 8 million in 2007 and is expected to rise further in 2008. The country has both old tourist cites and also new sites which draws that attention of many people all over the world. These sites are reinforced with an effective transport system of railways, automobile, air and water. (Bell 1998, p. 45)

Attraction sites in the country

Tourism activities in the country ranges from skiing, hunting, mountaineering, mountain bike riding, caving, bird watching, hiking and walking, and horse riding. These forms the land activities that can be undertaken in the tourism sector in the country. Water activities are diverse ranging from swimming and surfing, rafting, canoying, kaying, and diving. There are also various attraction sites including resorts, national parks, mineral water springs, water parks, Adventure Park and zoo, museums and other archeological sites. Air activities include paragliding in sunny and dry climates.

There are a number of attraction sites in Bulgaria ranging from natural sites to man made sites. There are several sites in Bulgaria that are found in UNESCO list of landmarks. It is a world of world natural and cultural heritage. These forms the general attraction sites like Kazanluk Tomb which is dated 4^th and 3^rd century B.C. This tomb is located in the Tyulbeto hills near the town of Kazanluk. Ivanovo Rock Churches is a monastery compound believed to of Archagel Michael which contains preserved churches. This is believed to be one of the most significant 14^th century Bulgarian arts. The Madar Horseman is a rock reef cutting into the northern slope of Provadiisko Plateau. The Rila Monastery forms an impressive 13^th to 14^th century architectural work and a spiritual centre for Bulgarian people. Nessebur, forms the old part of the town with architectural, historical and archeological significance situated at the Black Sea coast. Pirin National Park which is a part of the Pirisn Mountain contains plant and animal species. In the UNESCO list there is also Sreburna reserve and Sveshtari tomb.

Also there are several tourist centers in Bulgaria like Borovetz, Bansko, Pamporove, Vitosha and others which are picturesque also popular ski resorts. It also has famous summer resorts like Sozopol, Nessebur, Sunny Beach, Albena, and others. Winter resorts include Bansko, Chepelare, borovetz, Vitosha, and others. Rural tourism attractions include Arbanasi, Madzhorobo, Kumani, and others. It has also developed city tourism in sites like Sofia, Varna, Kardzhali, and others. There is hiking and paragliding in Balkan Mountains. Cultural tourism is greatly developed in Bulgaria. It has been the home of many civilizations including Thracians, Slavs, Romans, Byzantines, and ottomans. People are attracted to Bulgarian to see the architectural and other remains of these civilizations.

There are quality hotels found in major tourist sites in the country. In Sofia there are hotels like Castle Hrankov, Gloria Palace Diplomatic Club, and others. Most of the tourist hotels are found in Sofia. Plovdiv has hotels like Rodopi, Ambassador, Atlantic, and other. In Varna there are quality hotels like City Plane, Elegance, Lukos, and others. Burgas has least number of hotel including Kosmos, Mirage, White Rose, and others. Like in other tourist site in the world, these hotels fall into categories with most of them being 3 star and 5 star hotels. In total there are about 190 000 beds in the Bulgarian hotel sector. Accommodation facilities have grown rapidly in the sector since the government started privatizing the hotel facilities. This has seen a 12% growth in the accommodation sector in the industry.

Tourism in Bulgaria is supported by availability of other facilities which support tourism activities. There are multipurpose halls, conference halls, offices and exhibition areas in major hotels in the country. These facilities are reinforced by technical facilities including simultaneous translation and sound systems, other audio visual facilities including film projectors and video equipments. This ensures that all hotel activities are served with quality services.

Bulgaria has a lot of potential to develop tourism. It has sites that attract people and with little development in some weak areas, the sector can flourish to be an important foreign earner. However there has been criticism that tourism in Bulgaria is underdeveloped. It faces weaknesses which continue to undermine the industry. Seaside tourism heavily relies on short season which make it face stiff competition from other countries offering similar services. The industry is also faced by inadequacy of hotels in the ski resorts and the resorts are also underdeveloped. Support services in the transport are also inadequate and are undermined by low airline services and poor road condition which makes it difficult to access most tourist sites in the country. (Grunt 2001, p. 65)

Tourism business strategies

The state and the private in Bulgaria has done remarkable job in trying to come up with the above marketing requirements. The State Agency for Tourism has made a lot of strategies aimed at marketing Bulgaria as a tourist destination in the world. This has resulted to increased number of tourist visiting the country in the recent past. The government has taken stem in recognizing some of the most potential marketing including other EU countries. With the country expected to join the EU on January 2007, the tourism agency has taken steps towards marketing the country all over the world. This is expected to increase business tourism into the country and the government has undertaken necessary measures to upgrade business support services. (Kaytcheve and Purchell 2006, p. 21)

On of the most important made by the government in promotion of tourism in the country is through privatization of most hotels in the country. Most of the hotels in Bulgaria were state owned which led to poor management and consequently most of the facilities became worn out. From 2001, the government embarked on a plan to privatize most of the facilities. The government also embarked on renovation of most of the tourist attraction sites and facilities. The government has also responded well by holding foreign trade fairs through which it has been able to market its tourism sector. The private sector has also responded very well. With the privatization of most tourist facilities in the country and the consequent renovation and upgrading of the facilities, major international tourist operators has responded very well into acquisition of these tourist facilities. Over the last ten years, accommodation facilities has grown by more than 75% in the country while it has actually doubled in the Black Sea regions due to the concerted input from the government and the private sector.

The marketing strategies in the country have been targeting regions. One category includes markets of the geographical region within the EU. Germany had been a leading market for tourism in Bulgaria but other countries like United Kingdom, Russia, Scandinavia, Greece, ad others have emerged as potential markets as well for the industry. It has held exhibition in these markets which has enabled exchange of information about tourist sites in the country. The other categories include emerging markets where the government should continue to lay more emphases on. These markets are a special market category in which the government has continued to hold special trade fairs and exhibitions. The government has done a lot of promotions for the domestic market which has continued to make contribution to the tourism industry. (Petreas 2007, p.67)

Economic impact

Tourism industry remains one of the most untapped business sectors in Bulgaria. Although it has a lot of business potentials in the tourisms sector, little has been done in order to improve this sector. This is because there have been infrastructure issues that have been the main block in the development of tourism in the country. However the sector has grown in years and has performed relatively well in the past 10 years. The sector has recorded growth with the increasing attention that is being paid to the development of the tourism sector.

In 2007, the industry recorded a 10 percent more booking than it has received in the previous year. This represents a higher growth which is also reflected in earnings from the sector. For the same period the number of tourist increased by more than 5 percent growth margin. This has an effect on financing the income of the population. In 2007, revenues from tourist sector rose by more than 16 percent. There has also been a growing trend in the rise of domestic tourism. A big number of Bulgarians has recognized the importance of domestic tourism and for the period ending 2007, there was 15 percent increase in the number of domestic tourist the country. With the country expected to join the EU, the number of tourists coming in and out of Bulgaria to the EU region increased by more the 11 percent for the same period.

Therefore in terms of important of the sector, Bulgaria has recognized the importance that the sector can play in the growth of the economy. In particular, special emphasis on diversification of tourist sites and other attractions has been very crucial in ensuring that the sectors grow evenly and makes a contribution to the overall GDP of the country.

But there is need for the government to take more bold steps toward improving the marketing strategies in order to ensure that the sector makes more contribution to the growth of the economy in the country.

Social-environmental impact of tourism in Bulagaria

Apart from coming with positive economic impact, tourism has had positive and negative impacts on the tourism business in the country. This has been through the increased number of visitors in the country and the increased interaction between the people of Bulgaria and the outsiders which has brought about cultural interaction.

On the environment impact, there have been environmental issues that have come along with booming tourism business in the country. In a recent study, it was revealed that a total number of 268 000 tourists and 52 150 vehicles visited Rila National Park alone between January and June 2007. This shows that there has been increased number of tourists visiting other parks in the country. Keeping this visitors and ensuing that there is positive environmental impact is quite difficult. There have been environmental challenges that have been encountered in ensuring that the flood of people and cars is kept to the check. (Bulgarian Country Commercial Guide FY2001, 2008)

Environment impacts have been on the increased emissions from the cars that have been used and difficulties that have been enounced in managing the waste from the residential areas where the tourist are housed. The nature has not been spared either as more and more negative impact on the natural environment are being reported in the effort to create more tourist attraction to the country.

On the issue of social concerns, it has been shown that the wave of globalization has not left Bulgaria out and tourists have immersingly contributed. There has been mix up of outside cultures with that of Bulgaria. This has led to efforts which are aimed at streamlining the industry such that the culture of the country is protected. At the same time there have been efforts that are aimed at integrating the culture of Bulgaria with that of the outside world. There have been efforts which are all aimed at ensuring that the culture of Bulagaria and that of the outside world is integrate in aspects of foods, music, and other attraction which are aimed at increasing the level of attraction to the country.

However it has had negative impact of eroding the culture of most Bulagrina community. The once rich culture has been contaminated with external practices which is reducing the value of cultural tourism in the country. The focus in the recent times has been development of cultural tourism in the country. The level of cultural tourism in the country has been very low and the hence the effort are supposed to market the rich cultural mix of country in order to make it a tourism activity. This will help in neutralizing the negative effects that it has had on the cultural of Bulgaria.

There have been other challenges on social issues that have come due to tourism business. Key among this issue has been the ever disturbing problem of underage sex tourism. It has been found the rate of underage sex tourism has been on the increase and it is raising concerns from all quarters. The issues have been the way in which these children are misuse for tourism purpose by some tourism activity which has been seen as bleach on the social right of these children. There have been other issues parting social life of the people that has been interrupted by tourism activity. (European Union, 2006)

Recommendation

Tourism in Bulgaria has been instrumental in contributing to the economy of the country. It has also done a lot to market the country to the outside world. This is because more and more people are becoming attracted to the country. Therefore there are measures that should be taken in order to market the country more to the outside world. Since the country has joined the EU, there is more chance of developing the sector more since it will be supported by EU funds. However there must be systematic effort to improve the attraction sites in order to diversify the number of sites in the country. This will raise the number of visitors and increase the level of tourist activities. Diversifying the number of attraction sites in the country should also take into account the need to give the people more chances to be involved in tourism activist. This is the main focus of recent development in cultural tourism. Tourism support facilities should also be supported by improving their condition. This will also help in diversifying attraction to the country. In conclusion we can say that tourism business in Bulgarai is one of the lucrative investment opportunities for any investor willing to invest in the country.

Reference:

Annstova, L. & Purchell, K 1997, Human Resource management in Bulgaria tourism, Journal of International Hospitality Management, Vol. 3(3): 34-67

Bell, J. D 1998, Bulgaria in Transition, Wiley, New York

Bulgarian Country Commercial Guide FY2001, Tourism Infrastructure Summary, Retrieved from, http://www.factbook.net/countryreports/bu/Bu_Tourism.htm, on 30^th January 2008

Discussion about the Bulgarian Tourism before 2005, Retrieved from, http://209.85.129.104/search?/htm, on 30^th January 2008

European Union 2006, Technical Assistant to the Bulgarian State Tourism Agency- Bulgarian State Tourism Agency “Strategy for the Development of Bulgarian Tourism for the Period 2006-2009” Final Report, Vol. 1, Issue 3

Grunt, M.D 2001, Business marketing management: a strategic view of industrial and organizational markets, London, Dryden Press

Kaytcheva, E. & Purcell, K 2006, Tourism Management in Bulgaria: The challenge of change, Oxford University, Britain.

Petreas, C 2007, “Competitiveness of Bulgarian Tourism, in the EU” EU expert for Tourism

Tourism has long being considered as one of the biggest incomes for Indonesia. Rich cultural diversity and the natural beauty of the lands is the main tourism attraction. The country realize their potential and try to promote it internationally, especially to neighboring countries such as; Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. Other than the natural and cultural attraction, Indonesia is considered have a strategic location for business development. With millions of natural resources available in the country. Indonesia can attract business tourists to come and visit the country. However the Bali bombing in 2002 makes the international tourist to be alerted and therefore damaging to the Indonesia tourist industry. Since then, the trauma of the Bali bombing continues to haunt the visitors. The heavy drugs laws and death penalty as the worst punishment will also frighten and deter the visitors that come to Indonesia. The report below will explain the impact of Bali tourism on Indonesia economic and demographic factors. Furthermore it will analyze how the Bali bombing and harsh law will affect tourist decision when visiting Indonesia.

Historical account of Tourism and Bali

Rich local culture, great food, shopping, arts and craft and pulsating nightlife is some of the factor that makes Bali an interesting destination for Australian tourist (Bayes, 2007). Other than several reasons mentioned above, great surfing spot also have a significant role in luring the tourist to come to Bali. In addition; cheap prices of accommodation and services in Indonesia also supporting the tourist decision when visiting the island.

Large amount of tourist that arrives in Bali will increase the economic growth in the island even before they arrive in Bali; by paying the tax. The development of tourism sector will also affect the development of the infrastructure in Bali. The tourism and hospitality facility will absorb numerous workforces and will create a number of available jobs in Bali. Furthermore, Bali GDP has increased by 10% from 2010 to 2011 and it’s recorded as 6.49% growth in regional GDP. Amongst the increase; service, trading, hotel and restaurant is up by 18.62% (Balivillaholydays, 2012).

Statistical information

Total foreign tourist arrivals to Bali in May 2012 hit 215,868 indicating a farther rise than May 2011 (204,489). On a cumulative basis, Bali foreign tourist arrivals for January through May 2012 1,131,462 demonstrating growth of 9.71% over the same period last year with 1,031,316 foreign tourists.

http://www.balidiscovery.com/images/827/graff1.jpg

www.balidiscovery.com

Now five months into the year, Bali can now project more than 3 million foreign tourists for all of 2012. Bali should maintains its current year-to-date of growth at 9.71% through to the end of the year.

The performance from major source markets that arrived in Bali on January-May 2008-2012 showed the biggest amount of tourists is from Australia. Australian tourists continue to visit Bali with month-on-month arrivals up 9.3% at 61,266 for the month of May 2012. While this is a respectable growth, Australia’s ability to generate double digit improvement in arrivals month after month maybe ending. From 2011 to 2012, Australian arrivals for the first five month of the year changed by 10.37%. If the rate of growth is sustained, the numbers of Australian tourist will stay up for the entire year.

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www.balidiscovery.com

There are two big issue in Bali that affected Australian people greatly; The Bali bombing and Schapelle Corby cases. The Bali bombing happened on 12th October 2002 and it’s categorized as an international incident; as the death toll is effected many nationalities. The incident destroyed 400 buildings and injured 300 people, the final death toll was 202 bodies and most of them from Australia (Henderson, 2003).

deaths by nation

http://maximosweb.com/2011/12/04/terrorism-and-poverty/

Moreover, the incident leave deep trauma to any tourist at the time, and greatly reduces the quantity of tourist coming to Bali.

bali numbers

http://maximosweb.com/2011/12/04/terrorism-and-poverty/

The graph shows the demand of tourists arrivals to Bali slumped dramatically following Bali bombing. In September 2002 the foreign arrivals to Bali stood at 15,747. In November, it dropped down to 31,498 arrivals. Indonesia’s Center Statistics Agency spokesperson, Sudarti Surbakti observed that “The decline is a continued impact of various shock of occurring in late 2002 and early-to-mid 2003” (Russell Darnley, 2011).

Schapelle Corby is an Australian citizen that has been convicted and imprisoned for 20 years because of drug smuggling. The case is biased because Corby claimed that she knows nothing about the drugs that were kept in her possession. The effect of Corby being in custody; include the sentiment of the Australian to Bali, which lead to a boycott threat. The boycott has labeled Indonesian Justice as corrupt and it will leave a bad impression any visitors to Bali or any other destination in Indonesia (Lindstrom, 2005).

Account of the current situation

Even terrorism death penalty or Australians imprisoned make the images of Bali turn negative. Australians still spend money to visit this island and the amount of tourist year by year are still growing, giving a clear understanding of the question why Bali remains a good choice of Australians’ holiday destination in this current time.

Firstly, the landscape of natural scenery and uniqueness of culture still attract Australian tourists and also give plenty of activities for them to do on their holiday such as swimming, surfing and snorkeling are the most preferred actions in Bali. Enjoying nature and tropical climate are the next preferred attractions. Interestingly, religious ceremonies sites and Balinese villages are also considered attractive by Australian tourists than before.

Secondly, Bali Island offers affordable and acceptable prices to foreign tourists all over the world including Australians of all ages. The good value for money becomes a second reason for tourists to decide to travel in Bali. This also maybe because of a big difference of exchange currency rate of Australian dollars to Rupiah makes Bali an affordable and cheap holiday destination for Australians.

On the other hand, the fear of terrorism is the biggest factor that makes Australians feel insecure and avoid visiting Bali. This also may become an important consideration for Australians before making a decision to travel to Bali.

Anyway, the rate of Australians travelling to Bali increase year by year and this fact was supported by the graph above (Bali major source markets January-May 2012).

Conclusion

As the result, Bali is the most attractive destination for tourists and especially for Australian tourists. The main attractions; including natural beauty, traditional culture and affordable prices emphasize the reason why Bali is the most popular destination in the world. Even though the terrorism has affected the image of Bali in a negative way, the tourists still interested in travelling to Bali as the positive out way the negative reason. Dr. Hill said “Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors globally and Bali has already established itself on the map” (Dr. Hal Hill, 2012). This fact has confirmed the status of Bali which continues to grow in relation to a perfect destination.