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Issue Description
Statistics show that Brits are taking more trips than ever before, looking for their perfect holiday experience. However, tourism has a dark side, with problems such as carbon emissions, child sex tourism, exploitation of local people and destruction of beauty spots just some of the issues laying in wait for the ethical tourist. This book provides an overview of current trends, and looks at tourist responsibility.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
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Key Facts
- Nearly 70 million visits abroad were taken by UK residents in 2007. (page 1)
- Latest research from Mintel finds that last year alone we went on no less than 205,000 health and wellness holidays, where we benefited from the likes of yoga classes, holistic healing, spa visits or even surgical recuperation. (page 4)
- One in ten (12%) British adults would consider having surgery or an operation abroad because it is cheaper, and as many as a quarter (25%) would be interested in recuperating in a hotel after an illness or operation. (page 5)
- Today’s tourists are more likely to ‘fly cheap and sleep expensive’, travel further for shorter periods and seek out enriching experiences on their holidays, according to Expedia. (page 11)
- Up to 200,000 Britons take a gap year every year, 130,000 of them are school-leavers. (page 19)
- The average gap year traveller spends around £4,800. (page 19)
- An increase in mass tourism that is not controlled responsibly can ruin areas of natural beauty. Tourism can damage coral reefs, pollute beaches and destroy the habitats of wildlife as roads and hotels are built. Ironically, damage to these natural resources is likely to reduce future numbers of visitors. Another negative effect is that the increasing numbers of aeroplane flights are a major cause of global warming. (page 22)
- The first Summer Lifestyle Report conducted by Tiscali shows that Brits are far from concerned about their carbon footprint this summer. A massive 67% of Brits admitted that they won’t even be thinking about the impact their summer holiday could have on the environment. (page 28)
- Climate change could ‘dramatically’ change the face of British tourism in the next 20 years, with European tourists flocking to the UK to escape unbearably hot continental summers, experts say. (page 28)
- The reputation of British tourists abroad remains almost as bad as it was five years ago, according to Expedia’s 2007 Best Tourist League. Although Brits are no longer considered ‘the worst tourists in the world’, they remain in the league’s top five, thanks to their noisy and untidy holiday habits, bad behaviour and miserly tipping. (page 31)
- 12% of those surveyed by YouGov admitted to being ‘very concerned’ about the environmental effects of air travel, while a further 44% were ‘fairly concerned’. (page 34)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Tourism Trends
Trends in the travel industry for 2008, Travel trends 2006, Health and wellness holidays, Holidays are the latest status symbol, Brits left cold by tourist hot spots, Rise in specialist holidays, Key UK tourism facts, New Britain, Britain’s smart travellers, Space tourism – the future of travel, Space ‘sports car’ will take tourists into orbit, FAQ: gap years, Are these the new colonialists?, Ditch (un)worthy gap year causes, VSO advises.
Chapter Two: Responsible Travel
Taking tourism to task, Thoughts on tourism, Tourism and possible problems, Insider guide: sustainable tourism, What is ecotourism?, Climate change and tourism, Aviation’s impact on the climate, Nature’s ‘doom’ is tourist boom, Forget the carbon footprint, we want our summer sun, Climate change could bring tourists to UK – report, Lord, make us green tourists – but not just yet, British tourists among worst in world, Souvenir alert, Slum tours: a day trip too far?, Murder, genocide and war: the new tourist attractions, Debauchery tourism sets holiday trends, Child sex tourism, Child sex tourism – FAQs.
Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
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The Study Guide for: Travel and Tourism - Volume 156
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.95
ISBN: 978 1 86168 461 5