chapter 1.1

• • A tourist is a person who makes a trip outside their usual environment for leisure or personal purposes
  • A trip may be completed within the same day or may last several days, requiring overnight stays
  • They may be classified into domestic (travel within country) and international (travel abroad to another country) tourists
• • Tourist generating region: where tourists come from, and where people and businesses that offer tourism products and experiences (eg. tour operators) may be based
• • Tourist destination region: attracts tourists. Attraction, amenities, facilities which cater the needs of tourists located here. It is also the region that experiences the consequences of tourism development
• • Transit route: the route/region a tourist travels through to reach their destination. It links the tourist destination regions to the tourist generating regions. They include stopover points (eg. Singapore) which might be used for convenience or because of the existence of attractions
• tourist regions

  • They are all interconnected–each component can affect and be affected by other components
• • The availability of transit routes influences the volume and direction of travel. Eg. When there are limited or inconvenient transit routes, the volume of travel between regions might be low and vice versa.
  • When there are convenient or attractive transit routes available, the direction of travel might change. Tourists might choose to travel via the transit route instead of travelling directly to the destination region.
  • Eg. The lack of direct flights between SG and Brazil and the inconvenient transit routes between them result in fewer tourists travelling from SG to Brazil.
• • The movement of tourists from generating to destination regions occurs due to a combination of push-pull factors.
  • tourist generating regions create push factors while destination regions create pull factors
• • Push factors at generating regions: Stressful work environment, unpleasant living environments (eg. overcrowding and pollution), lack of recreational and entertainment options
  • Pull factors at destination regions: Scenic beauty, special events like concerts and festivals, attractions, facilities and amenities that provide positive experiences 
  • These factors results in tourists developing the motivation or need to travel
• • Tourists, businesses and organisations in tourist generating regions are mutually dependent
  • For instance, tourists need the services of tour operators in tourist destination regions to plan their trips. Tour operators depend on hotels in tourist destination regions in order to plan the accommodation for tourists. Hotels depend on tour operators to direct tourists to them in order to earn profits.
• • The local environment can be affected by tourism in positive or negative ways 
  • Eg. Tourists visit a nature park and irresponsibly leave behind waste , the environment may be degraded. When tourists pay local villagers to teach them how to create traditional pottery, they generate revenue for the villagers. This contributes to the local economy and helps to preserve local tradition
• • Tourism activities also impact environments beyond tourism destination
  • Changes in nature, communities, and economies within the environment can affect the tourism system and vice versa. 
• Impact of tourism examples

  • Eg. Economic downturn in tourist generating regions results in less demand for travel. Fewer tourists pass through transit routes, incomes in the tourist destination region and transit routes decrease. However, environmental damage is reduced.
  • Eg. New attraction opens at a tourist destination region, returning tourists share their positive experiences at the new attraction, hence an increase in motivation to travel to the destination region and the number of travellers generate greater incomes at both transit routes and destination regions.