(Tutor’s Name)
(Assignment)
1. Explain how tourism can contribute towards socio-cultural conservation
Tourists are generally interested, apart from sight-seeing, in exploring the social and cultural peculiarities of the locations they visit. They are interested in the local food habits, dance and cultural forms. In many parts of the world cultural forms have been resurrected and revived mainly for entertaining tourists. Tourists are willing to pay good money to watch dance, rituals and other performing arts which are unique to the town or village that they are visiting and this creates a demand for the local artists who can perform well. Thus the local cultural arts and crafts experience a renewed interest. There is also increased interest in preserving and transmitting local customs and traditions.
Tourism can be considered as a force for peace, because by bringing people together, it can foster understanding and co-operation between people from different cultures. Local festivals are energized by visitors from outside and this strengthens communities. Infrastructure development for promoting tourism benefits local residents also. This includes new health and transport facilities, recreational facilities, restaurants and public spaces. The value of the natural resources and heritage monuments goes up in the eyes of the local residents also and there is renewed interest in conservation of nature and natural resources (“Tourism and Socio-Cultural Conservation.”).
Some governments like Seychelles are collecting taxes from tourists to fund environmental protection and conservation .There is also an increased public awareness about the importance of environment as they see tourists appreciating and enjoying it. As natural and pristine sites are valued by the tourists, there is an effort to preserve such site by the public as well as the local government. Nature-loving tourists attracted by the wildlife have contributed to protection and preservation of wild life in many countries (“Environmental Impacts of Tourism.”).
Apart from the surviving culture of the past, the contemporary life style and food habits are also of immense interest to many tourists. Many tourists would like to experience life style of a tourist destination from inside. So houses and cottages which fully reflect the ethnic originality of the locality are in great demand. This leads to the preservation of the interesting and unique features of the contemporary culture and life style.
2. Refer to and explain the various bases for market segmentation with reference how each may be applied to travel industry.
The most important bases for market segmentation are Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral. Examples of geographic variables used for segmentation are region, population size, population density and climate. Demographic segmentation variables comprise age, gender, family size, family life cycle, income, occupation, education, generation, ethnicity, nationality, religion and social class. Psychographic segmentation variables include interests, activities, opinions, values and attitudes. Behavioral Segmentation is based on actual customer behavior towards products. Some behavioral variables include benefits sought, usage rate, brand loyalty, user status, readiness to buy and occasions (Goyat).
Travelers from different geographic regions are used to different types of terrain and different climates. In effect people who regularly live in warm regions may like to experience cold climate. People, who are always seeing snow, may want to enjoy sunshine. This knowledge can be used to identify locations that are likely to interest them most. Demographic variables influence the tourist preferences to a large extent. The younger generation may be more interested in the local cuisine and local fashions. The elderly persons may be looking for cultural entertainment or for visiting a historic monument. Psychographic factors attract different groups to different types of activities. Sports, flora and fauna, dance forms, scenic beauty, mountaineering, skating etc will appeal to different groups to varying degrees depending upon individual tastes. Literature students may want to visit Shakespeare’s home while in England, whereas students of sculpture would like to visit Madame Tussauds Wax museum. Behavioral differences between tourists can be seen in the eagerness to try out new things in some, as against a very cautious approach of sticking to tried and tested things, by others. Adventure sports may not appeal to all in the same measure.
3. Refer to and explain the following 4 concepts of leisure.
(a) Time: Leisure time is defined “as time when you are not working and you can relax and do things that you enjoy (“Collins Dictionaries.”).” Here working refers to work that people normally do as part of earning their livelihood or fulfilling their responsibilities towards family, friends and community. The time that is left over after performing all the above activities is free to be utilized by a person for any activity which provides pleasure and entertainment to him. The fact that a person has the discretion to do or not to do any activity during this time is what makes it leisure time.
(b) Activities: Another common way of defining leisure is by the form of activity. Going to concerts or cinema, playing games and engaging in arts and crafts etc. may be classified as leisure by this definition. But some problems can be pointed out with this definition. Playing cricket is a normal job for a professional cricket player, but leisure for a casual player. Shopping for weekly groceries is part of work, but random shopping may be leisure. So for qualifying as leisure, an activity should be outside of social, family and work related activities and should be one which a person does at his will (“Leisure, Play, and Recreation.” Chapter 2).
(c) State of existence: This corresponds to Aristotle’s view that leisure is a state of existence where there is no compulsion to pursue any activity. Leisure means to be engaged in an activity which gives pleasure and satisfaction to a person, involving him to the core (“Recreation & Leisure in Modern Society”).
(d) State of mind: State of mind definition of leisure stresses on the meaning of any activity to the person who performs it. Thus if a person performs an activity due to intrinsic motivation, without any compulsion or feeling of being instrumental and for the joy of experience, then it can be considered as leisure. Such activities can be performed anytime, anywhere. For a teacher, who derives pleasure and self-actualization from his job, his work is leisure.
4. Refer to Nash’s paradigm of free time, explain each stage and mention how tourism is implicated at each stage. Utilization of internet sources may be a useful source of information.
Jay Brian Nash analyzed the type of activities that people did during their spare time and proposed a pyramidal hierarchy in relation to the level of participation. At the sub-zero level, “acts performed against the society” like delinquency and crime are observed. At the zero level, activities cause “injury or detriment to self or others” (Archibald, 3).
This takes the form of excesses like substance abuse or vandalism. At level1, the activities are aimed at “killing time” or escaping from boredom. Activities that provide amusement or entertainment like watching TV, seeing a movie or going to park are such activities. At level 2, activities are characterized by “emotional participation.” In this, the person is moved to appreciate the beauty or symbolism of a movie, painting etc. At level 3, there is active participation, for example, instead of watching a football match, a person is playing a part in the game (Archibald). At the highest level, there is creative involvement on the part of the actor; like composing a piece of music or writing a poem. According to Nash, activities at the higher levels are necessary for the development and enrichment of one’s life (Archibald, 4).
The marketers of tourism can benefit from understanding the types of tourist activities that will provide optimum satisfaction at various levels. Most tourist destinations have hidden joints that satisfy the low level needs of tourists like sex and drugs. Visiting gardens, museums and monuments can engage tourists who are at level 1. Cultural forms, local rituals and traditional performances can be well appreciated by tourists, who have keen interest in such activities. Tourists who are looking for activities in which they can fully participate may choose swimming, skating, playing games etc. and the marketers should take care to include these ingredients also in their tour packages. At the creative level, a tourist may be so fascinated by a particular form of art that he may want to learn to create or perform it himself. So tourism may promote the learning of such arts.
5. Refer to and explain the various type of recreation
Generally recreational activities are done for enjoyment and are not part of working. Recreational activities can be classified in various ways depending on the criteria used. Recreation can be classified as passive or active, on the basis of the physical and mental involvement. Passive recreation such as watching a game or listening to music does not require the active participation of the individual. Here the person is not physically involved in the activity. However, he may be mentally involved, so long as the activity captures his attention. Sometimes, when the activity no longer interests him, his mind wanders. In the case of active recreation, the person has to fully participate in the activity. This involves physical and mental attention. Examples of active recreation are dancing, singing, diving etc.
Activities may be classified as indoor or outdoor, depending on where they are performed. Games like cricket, football, volleyball and hockey are outdoor recreational activities, which take our mind off day-to- day worries and at the same time provide exercise and help to maintain physical health. Some indoor games like table-tennis can also provide active involvement and exercise. But indoor games like caroms and chess do not provide for any physical activity.
Activities may be performed individually or in groups. Surfing the internet, listening to music and watching videos or movies are solo activities. Chatting on whatsapp and face book are common activities that the new generation do to kill their time, which are solo activities in the physical plane. However, these are group activities on the virtual plane, as the communications are received and replied instantaneously. Internet is a treasure house of information. At the same time, there is also considerable amount of junk. What we chose to see, decides the benefits that we get from it.
The dangerous trend that we observe now is that youngsters resort to solo indoor activities and are less inclined to do outdoor activities. As a consequence, today’s children are in the grip of life style diseases. It is also observed that they lag behind in social and interpersonal skills. This trend has to be arrested at a very early age itself.
Some types of group recreational activities are helpful in improving communication and interpersonal skills. These are generally structured group activities guided by experts. These have to be performed compulsorily in groups to realize maximum benefits (“The Event Planning Guide: Different Types of Recreational Activities.”)
Adventurous activities can make individuals stronger, mentally and physically. Each successful activity boosts self-worth and self confidence. These activities also serve as a means to channel the energy of youth towards constructive activities. Mountaineering and parachute jumping are very risky ventures, but may afford maximum satisfaction to highly adventurous persons.
In the modern society, there are a lot of social service activities to be carried out through volunteering. Volunteering can be a source of immense pleasure to all age groups. Though this is generally not classified as a recreational activity, the person doing it gets the same mental satisfaction of playing a favorite game, if it is done with passion. For committed people, who immensely enjoy their work, everything that they do is leisure.
The concept of leisure and recreation has been viewed from different standpoints. What is work to someone is pure leisure to another. When work becomes leisure, then people may not be inclined to avoid work. What activities people want to do during leisure is indicative of the level of involvement that they desire in the leisure activity. Societies as a whole are benefited by people who do activities that require higher level of involvement. Creative people are at the topmost level of Nash’s pyramid and anti-social elements are at the sub-zero level.
Tourism is a popular way of utilizing leisure time by people. The type of tourist activity and location that they tend to choose will be influenced by various factors. The marketers of tourism have to take into account the various geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral factors that influence the choice of tourist destination and activities by the people.
Recreational activities are a way of filling leisure time. Some people just while away the time by passively watching game or surfing the internet. But leisure can be used for higher level activities which will enrich and develop the individual. Society and civilization progresses only if more people perform activities at the higher level of engagement.
Works cited
Archibald, Kari. “Leisure Time and Human Happiness.” Web. 11 May 2016.
https://www.byui.edu/Documents/instructional/v8n2_Archibald.pdf
Goyat, Sulekha. “The basis of market segmentation: a critical review of literature”.European Journal of Business and Management. 3.9 (2011). Web. 10 May 2016. www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/EJBM/article/download/647/540
“Leisure, Play, and Recreation.” Chapter 2: Web.11 May 2016.
http://people.tamu.edu/~dscott/601/Unit%201/U1_Leisure_&_Play.pdf
“Collins Dictionaries.” Web. 11 May 2016. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/
“Environmental Impacts of Tourism.” Web.11 May 2016. http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-
tour/envi/four.html
“Recreation & Leisure in Modern Society.” Web.13 May 2016.
http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763749591/49591_Ch02_McLean.pdf
“The The Event Planning Guide: Different Types of Recreational Activities.” 18 April 2015.
Web. 13 May 2016. http://www.eventus.org.uk/different-types-of-recreational-activities/
“Tourism and Socio-Cultural Conservation.” Web. 10 May 2016 http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Business/SectoralActivities/Tourism/FactsandFiguresaboutTourism/ImpactsofTourism/Socio-CulturalImpacts/TourismandSocio-CulturalConservation/tabid/78782/Default.aspx
