Lesson 5: Targeted Tourism
Completion requirements
Unit 1
What Attracts Tourists?
Lesson 5: Targeted Tourism
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~ Mark Twain
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~ Mark Twain
Within the leisure travel market, the new trend is not strictly visiting a place for its own sake. Travellers want to receive an experience.
According to the Global Wellness Institute, in 2013 the Global Tourism Industry accounted for $3.2 trillion dollars in business. Tourism destinations need to understand where this money is spent so they can capitalize on this industry. In this every growing industry, today's evolved travellers are not satisfied to strictly go to a destination for its own sake. Gone is the notion that travelling to Paris is enough. The trend has changed. Today's travellers want more value for their money, eg., desiring a truly authentic life experience as a Parisian.
Click each coloured tab to view information about the emerging tourism experiences and their annual economic impact.
Cultural Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $800 billion - $1.1 trillion
Cultural tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. Monetarily, cultural tourists spend $62 more per day and $200 more per trip than other travellers and typically include multiple destinations during a visit. The travel industry describes this term as travel and visitation activities directly related to an area's arts, heritage, architecture, performances, recreational, and natural resources. Although this is not a new phenomenon, it is a new way of connecting with residents through multi-cultural and multi-generational activities.
Culinary Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $350 - 550 billion
The definition of Culinary Tourism, or Food Tourism as it is sometimes called, is simple. It is the pursuit and enjoyment of unique and memorable food and drink experiences. While it may include elite experiences, that is not strictly the case. It also encompasses choosing to eat across town, from a food cart or street vendor, participating in a cooking school, touring a winery, or attending a taco festival.
Wellness Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $439 billion
It is important to note the difference between wellness tourism and medical tourism. Wellness tourism generally focuses on people who are healthy who want to maintain or improve their health and their well-being. They are motivated by a desire for healthy living, disease prevention, stress reduction, healthy eating, and positive physical lifestyle habits. Wellness activities are proactive, voluntary, non-invasive, and non-medical in nature. The wellness tourist tends to be middle-aged, wealthy, educated, and from Western and/or industrialized countries.
Adventure Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $115 - 150 billion
Adventure tourism involves a significant physical and mental activity, cultural exchange, and often engagement with nature. It may have an element of physical danger which directly relates to some kind of risk. Adventure tourism can be broken into two parts: soft adventure which is safer and without excessive physical demands and hard adventure which is more physically challenging with more risks, and pushes people outside their comfort zones. Soft adventure examples are camping, hiking, or biking. Examples of hard adventure include mountaineering, white water rafting, heli-skiing, or bungee jumping.
Spiritual Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $37 - 47 billion
This niche tourism market involves tourists travelling to places of religious significance, engaging in religious practice, or having some form of spiritual experience within a religious context. Whether in the form of a pilgrimage, as a right of passage, or to receive a better understanding of various religious practices, the objective of spiritual tourism can be very individual.
Volunteer Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $10 - 20 billion
Voluntourism is the practice of going on a working holiday, volunteering labour for worthy causes such as helping communities who suffer from poverty or aiding disaster-stricken regions. These tourists receive an authenticity to create a better environment for locals to live. The majority of these working holidays involve a fee that assists in the destination's economic growth. This relatively new market has recently received some bad press with reports of dissatisfaction with the experience and lack of accountability.
Eco / Sustainable Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $325 - 480 billion
Ecotourism unites conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. An overarching principle is to minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts to the region. The travellers endeavour to build environmental and cultural awareness and respect while receiving a positive experience for both visitors and hosts. Through a memorable visitor interpretative experience, the result is a raised sensitivity to the host country's political, environmental, and social climate while leaving a low-impact on the environment.
Sports Tourism
Annual Economic Impact: $250 - 375 billion
Sports tourism is travel specifically to either participate in or to watch a sporting event. As long as sport is the primary reason for one's travel, it is considered sports tourism. Even though the primary reason for the travel hinges on the sporting activity, those people need to eat, they need places to stay, they often travel in groups, and they often buy souvenirs. Obviously, this translates into money for the destination.
