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Issue Description
Despite a global recession, statistics show that just 11% of Brits will go without a holiday next year. However, the dynamics of tourism are changing. More and more travellers are opting for ‘voluntourism’ or ‘eco-tourism’ trips, responding to the demand for responsible travel. Yet the ethics of this supposedly greener travel are also being brought into question, with critics arguing that ‘voluntourism’ does not necessarily benefit local communities. This book looks at these issues and more, including tourism trends, sustainable tourism and gap year travel.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper articles, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
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Key Facts
- The UK is the sixth most-visited destination by international tourists but is losing market share. (page 1)
- A year ago the average Brit was prepared to spend £1,014 per person on their main holiday, but fast forward to 2011 and this has dropped to £829. (page 6)
- The most important factors for tourists choosing a holiday destination are the country’s weather; its natural beauty; whether it offers value for money; the quality and warmth of the welcome which visitors receive and whether there are plenty of interesting cultural or heritage things to do while they’re there. (page 11)
- Over the past six decades, tourism has expanded to become one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. Many new destinations have emerged alongside the traditional ones of Western Europe and North America. (page 21)
- Ecotourism has to be both ecologically and socially conscious. Its goal is to minimise the impact that tourism has on an area through cooperation and management and in some cases it even encourages travellers to have a positive impact on their new surroundings. (page 24)
- Massive influxes of tourists, often to a relatively small area, have a huge impact. They add to the pollution, waste, and water needs of the local population, putting local infrastructure and habitats under enormous pressure. (page 25)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Travel Trends
Overseas visitors to Britain, Why tourism matters, Britons to spend £7 billion on home holidays this summer, Brits will spend a fifth less on 2011 holidays, Planes, trains and smartphones: trends affecting adventure travel in 2011, Travel health advice from Dr Felicity Nicholson, Trailfinders Travel Clinic, Is Britain an attractive tourism destination?, £3 million from Olympic budget to boost domestic tourism in 2012 and beyond, Ukinbound warns against Olympic ‘misperceptions’, Raising air passenger duty flight tax will hurt UK tourism, Osborne told, Foreign Office releases figures on Brits in trouble overseas, Five types of alternative tourism, Brits for blast off: tourists head to final frontier, South Africa – top destination for structured gap year programmes, Glamping – camping at its best.
Chapter 2 Sustainability and Ethics
Sustainable tourism, What is ecotourism?, Coastal development problems: tourism, Can wildlife tourism help conserve our endangered species?, ‘Green people’ in global tourism – a new way to travel, How your travels will affect local communities, Integrating ethics into tourism: beyond codes of conduct, Amazon town bans tourists, Slumming it, Responsible tourism, Volunteer tourism defies recession but is this positive news the South?, A volunteer’s perspective on the growth in ‘voluntourism’, The ethical volunteering guide.
