BMT7073 Visitor Attraction Management Level 5

As a Tourism Consultant for a National Tourism Agency Visit Britain, the main role is to increase the value and volume of tourism product of England. In addition to this, there is a great need to understand the scope, importance and techniques of management to sustain the visitor’s attractions of UK (Our performance & reporting, 2018). In the current research report visitor’s attractions of UK such as Kensington Gardens, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower of London, London Eye, Natural history British museum and Kensington Palace will be researched.    

TASK – 1

1.1  Discussing the overlap of visitor attractions in relation to particular types of attraction

St. Paul’s Cathedral will be considered to elucidate on the overlapping of the visitors attractions. It is a famous place of visitor attraction because it accounts for significant feature about the London skyline i.e. a world famous dome. The St. Paul’s Cathedral is well known for its intricate mosaic and art works. The visitors are astonished by the breathtaking interiors of the cathedral as and when they enter this place (Ramaswamy, 2013). In addition to this, people visiting this place can also explore the discoveries of the tombs, crypt and memorial of some of the famous national heroes. Furthermore, the visitor can also have the panoramic view of London by climbing the golden gallery and can try out the audio fluke of Whispering gallery.  

Other than all of the above, this place is also regarded as a religious attraction. In other words, it is also conveying the spiritual aspect and sacredness between the people who visits cathedral irrespective of their religion. Even though, the main fundamental purpose of the church is being a place of worship for the Christians, but it is also one of the oldest buildings and thus, regarding the cultural and heritage aspects.    

1.2  Analyzing the significance of different visitor attractions

• London Eye – It is being referred as an important feature to the skyline of London. It boosts up some of the magnificent views of London from its 32 capsules each weighing around 10 tonnes (Merlin entertainments group, 2016). It holds up around 25 people and is located in the central London. A spellbound 360 degree view of the capital can be experienced by the visitors from the London Eye. It is the famous landmarks of London and from the past few decades, it is being regarded as the topmost visited place as well as experience for the tourists.
• Westminster Abbey – Every year this wonderful 700 year old building is attracting millions of tourists. Its importance lies in its remarkable religious building. Further, it is also considered as an enormous gothic abbey church in the Westminster London.
• British Museum – The museum is quite famous in London and is significantly unveiling the works of man of prehistoric times to modern times all around the world. The major attraction of this historic museum includes the Pantheon sculptures, mummies in the Ancient Egypt collection and the Rosetta stone (Jutte, 2005).
• Tower of London – This place will helps the tourists in ascertaining the history of royal palace, powerful fortress and an armory. In addition to this, people coming from varied nations as well as local residents can also see the precious crown jewels, place of execution, prison, zoo and arsenal and many more places. It grabs the attention of the visitors due its location, as it is situated in the north bank of the Thames in Central London.
• Kensington Palace – This palace is a working Royal residence. Its holds a great historical significance and was preferred residence of successive sovereigns until the year 1760. Other than this, it was also the birth place and childhood home of Queen Victoria. Many historic parts of the palace are now open for the common people (Royal Residences: Kensington Palace, 2018).

TASK – 2

2.1  Evaluating the needs and motivations of different visitor types

There are various kinds of visitors that have different requirements and motivations. The destinations as well as attractions to be visited by them are generally decided upon these factors. The segmentation of the visitors is as follows:

• Demographic – Under this type of segmentations visitors are categorized on the basis of age, class, gender, education, occupation, marital status etc. For instance, individuals within the age group between 18-25 years will be more inclined towards visiting the areas which are fun filled such as London Eye and markets in central London (Cooper and et.al, 2008). On contrary, elders between the age group 35-60 will show interest in visiting the historical monuments, park and cathedrals etc. thus, it can be said that the needs and motivation of the visitor is different according to this type. A group of students studying in college might show interest towards exploring the royal palaces and treasures in order to known the ancient history and culture.
• Geographic – This type of segmentation is being done on the basis of geography i.e. state, region, nation and community. This segmentation of the visitor is very significant, as tourists belonging to varied places come up with different cultures and depicts diverse behavior and traits (Yale, 2004). It is the most basic type of segmentation. For instance, that visitor who belongs to the Christian community is more likely to visit cathedrals because of the religious sentiments. People coming from the cold areas or nations desires to have fun in the sun and they often enjoy seek for beaches to relax and enjoy.  
• Psychographic – This segmentation is being done on the basis of psyche of the visitors. In simple words, visitors are segregated on the basis of their lifestyle, attitude, opinions, personality and interests.

Need and motivation of the tourists

• Single tourists – These visitors want to travel alone and visiting and exploring new places and attractions are their hobby. They decide themselves where to travel and generally carry less stuff on the journey (Lane, 2007).
• Business tourists – These tourists are professional visitors. They decide themselves about the travel but restrict themselves to spend much money. They generally travel with a purpose to attend some meetings, seminars, conferences and business fairs (Leask and Yeoman, 1999).
• Family tourists – They generally travel with their relatives or first families. The main motive is to spend leisure time with family and enjoy the holidays.
• Health tourists – The main purpose of travelling of these tourists is to seek some health benefits from a particular region or place. They generally travel to avail some medical treatment, surgeries or operations.

2.1   Assessing the impacts of tourism on visitor attractions in the United Kingdom

There is positive as well as negative influence of tourism on the visitor attractions in UK such as Tower of London, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, British museum etc. Explanation of these impacts is shown by the table below:

2.2  Analyzing the effect of different theories of tourist motivation on the management of visitor attractions

Tourists motivation is being regarded as the main element of understanding the tourists behavior in the decision making process. If motivation behind the travel is comprehended than it becomes easy to manage the visitor attractions. The main question lies in the intellects of tourists researchers is why people travel from one place to another (Yoon and Uysal, 2005). To uncover the travel motives, it is vital to understand various theories of tourist’s motivation and its effects on management of visitor attractions.

• Maslow’s need hierarchy theory – According to Maslow’s, each and every person has varied needs and wants. The high order needs are at the top of the pyramid of need hierarchy. Person will reach at the top needs only when the lower needs are fulfilled. For tourist destinations to succeed, it should first satisfy the basic necessities of the visitors. Further, in order to grab their attention, social, safety and self-actualization needs of the visitors must be fulfilled (Maslow, 2013.). However, there is some sort of problem with the theory that is there might be chances that needs might not follow the hierarchical order.
• Crompton’s Push and Pull factors – Push factors are those which states the desire for travel and on the other hand, pull factors are those which explains the choice of actual destination. There are basically, nine motivations of leisure travelers identified by Crompton, out of which seven are related with the socio-psychological or push motives and two are related with the cultural or pull motives (Crompton, 2001). Push motives of the visitors are prestige, self-evaluation, regression, relationships, social interaction, escaping from mundane environment and relaxation. On contrary, novelty as well as education is the pull motives of the visitors that significantly influence the motivation of the tourists.

TASK – 3

3.1  Discussing the processes and the potential issues involved in the development of visitor attractions

The success of the visitor attractions is being identified by various factors. These factors motivate the people to travel and make choices about the particular destination. However, there are many factors, which are not motivating, rather restraint the tourists to travel or visit attraction. In order to develop a new visitor attraction at Stratford, London on behalf of Merlin Entertainments Plc and London Borough of Newham, as a tourism consultant of Visit Britain it is important to identify the issues being involved in the development processes (Lancaster and Massingham, 2010). Some of the issues in the development process of new visitor attractions are:

• Availability of resources – In the process of developing a visitor attraction, the most important factor is the availability of the resources. There are several resources whose availability in the nearby location of the attraction helps in attracting the visitors towards that place. Stratford is a metropolitan center and town of greater London. The region is famous for its history and ancient parish. Pertaining to this, the resources to be required will be decided considering the historical part.
• Attraction management – the other important things that needs to be considered in the development process of visitor attractions is deciding on the type of product or attractions to be offered to the public or visitors (Yeoman and Drummond, 2000). Concerning this, there are many kinds of attractions such as natural, theme based, man-made attractions and many more. Furthermore, all these types of attractions fascinate varied type of visitors. In addition, the success of each of these attractions will be identified through motivational factors or process.
• Demand for the product in the market – Before initiating the process of arranging resources for the project, it is significant to analyze the demand of the product i.e. the type of visitor attraction to be developed in the market. It is not only sufficient to develop the product; rather it is equally important to see whether the product to be developed is desirable in the market on not (Lockwood and Medlik, 2016). Thus, it is crucial to develop the attraction in such a way that its attractiveness as well as popularity raises and matches with the perception of large group of visitors.
• Health and safety – Health safety needs to be considered while developing a tourist’s destination. It is the responsibility of the local authorities of London to check reading the health and safety provisions about the particular area and destination. Proper arrangement about the littering and waste disposal should be done so that the local communities as well as the visitors are not affected.
• Sources of funding – It is vital to decide who will the stakeholders and how the whole project will be funded. It involves inclusion of private and public sector companies who will show their interest in such attractions. Income can be generated for the destination through tickets, entry fee, sponsorship, membership fee and donation (Fernando, 2011).

Other than these important process and issues, there are many other factors that needs to be considered such as licensing from tourists boards, marketing of the destination, ease of access and technology, catering, maintenance and cleaning. If these factors are taken into account then, attraction or destination will attract large group of visitors.

TASK – 4

4.1  Analyzing different visitor management strategies

There are numbers of strategies available that can help in managing the visitors of the attractions of UK and these strategies are as follows:

• Managing the supply – The supply of the tourism as well as the opportunities can be managed by increasing the available space and time available in order to accommodate more use (Fyall and et.al., 2008). Other than this, the supply can also be managed by increasing the staff, extended opening hours, providing concessions, signage and multi-regulated room conditions.
• Managing the demand – The demand of the visitation can be managed by restricting the length of stay, total number of tourists and type of use. The demand of the tourists can also be managed by influencing the number or behavior of visitors including marketing, education, interpretation and price incentives.
• Designing strategies to make destination attractive – In this regard, it is vital to know the profile of the visitors, there types and features and then necessary strategies should be developed to meet out their requirements (Frydman, 2013).
• Reviewing the visitor’s expectation – For effective management of visitors, it is important to review their needs and demands, changing preferences and expectations. It is equally vital to identify the new areas that should be developed with innovation so as to attract and fulfill the demands of the tourists.

4.2  Evaluating the management techniques in relation to sustainability

It is quite significant to make sure that the tourism has a sustainable influence on the destination and the local community. The residents are the vital stakeholders and thus, there view point is required to be comprehended. If the tourism takes place in effective manner, wealth is created and in turn helps in conserving the natural and cultural resources (Harrell, 2011). However, the other way, the local residents has to face suffering from the encroachment by the tourists. Pertaining to this, it is significant to conduct resident survey in order to know the information in regards with the attitude of the residents. This information can further be used for the management and development of tourism and attractions. Other than this, the information of the survey can also be used to provide education to the communities about the risk and paybacks being linked with the tourism (Hayton, 2012).

CONCLUSION

Thus, to comprehend it can be said that visitor attractions have lot to offer to the tourists. However, lot things need to be done in order to restructure, manage and designing of the tourism products so that it can offer benefits to people, society and environment in an effective manner.

REFERENCES

• Cooper, C., Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D. and Wanhill, S., 2008. Tourism principles and practice. 4^thed. Harlow: Prince hall.
• Crompton, J.L., 2001. Motivations for Pleasure Vacation. Annals of Tourism Research, 6(4), pp.408-424.
• Dieke, U.C.P., 2000. Political economy of tourism development in Africa. 5^thed. Cognizant communication.
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• Fyall, A., Garrod, B., Leask, A. and Wanhill, S., 2008. Managing Visitor Attractions. 2^nded. Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Harrell, D.G., 2011. Marketing Management.  Simon and Schuster Pub.
• Hayton, J., 2012. Global Human Resource Management Casebook. Taylor & Francis.
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• Leask, A. and Yeoman, I., 1999. Heritage Visitor Attractions: An Operations Management Perspective. Cassell.  
• Lockwood, A.  and Medlik, S., 2016.Tourism and hospitality in the 21st century. Rotledge.
• Maslow, A.H., 2013. Toward a psychology of being. Start Publishing LLC.
• Ramaswamy, N., 2013. Marketing Management. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
• Scheyvens, R., 2002. Tourism for development: employing communities.1^sted. Pearson Education.
• Swarbrooke, J., 2002. The Development and Management of Visitor Attractions. Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Yale, P., 2004. From Tourist Attractions to Heritage Tourism. 2^nded. Elm Publications.
• Yeoman, I. and Drummond, S., 2000. Quality Issues in Visitor Attractions. Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Yoon, Y. and Uysal, M., 2005. An examination of the effects of motivation and satisfaction on destination loyalty: a structural model. Tourism Management, 26(1), pp.45–56.

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