Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report was first published in 2007 by the World Economic Forum.^[1] The 2007 report covered 124 major and emerging economies. The 2008 report covered 130 countries,^[2] and the 2009 report expanded to 133 countries.^[3] The index is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, rather than a measure of a country attractiveness as a tourist destination. The report ranks selected nations according to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which scores from 1 to 6 the performance of a given country in each specific subindex. The overall index is made of three main subindexes: (1) regulatory framework; (2) business environment and infrastructure; and (3) human, cultural, and natural resources. The Report also includes a specific Country Profile for each of the nations evaluated, with each of the scores received to estimate its TTCI, and complementary information regarding key economic indicators from the World Bank, and country indicators from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Travel search engine

Travel remains the single largest component of e-commerce according to Forrester Research, a consulting firm in Cambridge, Mass. But despite the dominance of such online travel agency heavyweights, most users consult multiple Web sites when shopping online for travel. The average consumer visits 3.6 sites when shopping for an airline ticket online, according to PhoCusWright, a Sherman, CT-based travel technology firm. Yahoo claims 76% of all online travel purchases are preceded by some sort of search function, according to Malcolmson, director of product development for Yahoo Travel. The 2004 Travel Consumer Survey published Jupiter Research noted that "nearly two in five online travel consumers say they believe that no one site has the lowest rates or fares." Thus a niche was created for aggregate travel search which seek to find the lowest rates from multiple travel sites, obviating the need for consumers to cross-shop from site to site.

Travel literature

Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or may involve travel to different regions within the same country. Accounts of spaceflight may also be considered travel literature.

Literary travelogues generally exhibit a coherent narrative or aesthetic beyond the logging of dates and events as found in travel diarys or a ship's log. Travel literature is closely associated with outdoor literature and the genres often overlap with no definite boundaries. Another sub-genre, dealing specifically with 20th and 21st century tourism, is the guide book

Travel agency

A travel agency is a retail business, that sells travel related products and services to customers, on behalf of suppliers, such as airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and package holidays that combine several products. In addition to dealing with ordinary tourists, most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to making travel arrangements for business travelers and some travel agencies specialize in commercial and business travel only. There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are located.

Tourist attraction

A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities.

Some examples include historical places, monuments, zoos, aquaria, museums and art galleries, botanical gardens, buildings and structures (e.g., castles, libraries, former prisons, skyscrapers, bridges), national parks and forests, theme parks and carnivals, ethnic enclave communities, historic trains and cultural events. Many tourist attractions are also landmarks.

Tourist attractions are also created to capitalise on unexplained phenomena such as a supposed UFO crash site near Roswell, New Mexico and the alleged Loch Ness monster sightings in Scotland. Ghost sightings also make tourist attractions.

Ethnic communities may become tourist attractions, such as Chinatowns in the United States and the black British neighborhood of Brixton in London, England.

In the US, owners and marketers of attractions advertise tourist attractions on billboards along the side of highways and roadways, especially in remote areas. Tourist attractions often provide free promotional brochures and flyers in information centres, fast food restaurants, hotel and motel rooms or lobbies, and rest areas.

While some tourist attractions provide visitors a memorable experience for a reasonable admission charge or even for free, others can have a tendency to be of low quality and to overprice their goods and services (such as admission, food, and souvenirs) in order to profit from tourists excessively. Such places are commonly known as tourist traps

Tourism geography

Tourism Geography is the study of travel and tourism, as an industry and as a social and cultural activity. Tourism geography covers a wide range of interests including the environmental impact of tourism, the geographies of tourism and leisure economies, answering tourism industry and management concerns and the sociology of tourism and locations of tourism.

Tourism geography is that branch of science,which deals with the study of travel and its impact on places.

Geography is fundamental to the study of tourism, because tourism is geographical in nature. Tourism occurs in places, it involves movement and activities between places and it is an activity in which both place characteristics and personal self-identities are formed, through the relationships that are created among places, landscapes and people. Physical geography provides the essential background, against which tourism places are created and environmental impacts and concerns are major issues, that must be considered in managing the development of tourism places.

The approaches to study will differ according to the varying concerns. Much tourism management literature remains quantitative in methodology and considers tourism as consisting of the places of tourist origin (or tourist generating areas), tourist destinations (or places of tourism supply) and the relationship (connections) between origin and destination places, which includes transportation routes, business relationships and traveler motivations.^[1] Recent developments in Human geography have resulted in approaches such as those from cultural geography, which take more theoretically diverse approaches to tourism, including a sociology of tourism, which extends beyond tourism as an isolated, exceptional activity and considering how travel fits into the everyday lives and how tourism is not only a consumptive of places, but also produces the sense of place at a destination

Tour guide

The CEN (European Committee for Standardization) definition for ‘tourist guide’ (part of the work by CEN on definitions for terminology within the tourism industry) is:

Tourist guide = person who guides visitors in the language of their choice and interprets the cultural and natural heritage of an area, which person normally possesses an area - specific qualification usually issued and/or recognized by the appropriate authority

CEN also produced a definition for tourmanager: Tour manager = person who manages and supervises the itinerary on behalf of the tour operator, ensuring the programme is carried out as described in the tour operator's literature and sold to the traveller/consumer and who gives local practical information

In Europe, tourist guides [tour guide being initially a term primarily used in the US market] are represented by FEG, the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and outside Europe by WFTGA.

The tourist guiding qualification is specific to each and every country; in some cases the qualification is national, in some cases it is broken up into regions. In all cases it is embedded in the educational and training ethic of that country. The Art of Guiding is a skill; it is the skill of selecting information and varying it for different audiences; it is the skill of presenting it in a simple and precise way; it is the skill of allowing the visitor to see and to understand; it is a skill which, if well performed, is invisible.

British seaside resorts

As the nineteenth century progressed, British working class day-trippers traveled on organized trips such as railway excursions, or by steamer, for which long piers were erected so that the ships bringing the trade could berth.

The popularization of the seaside resort during this period was nowhere more pronounced than in Blackpool. Blackpool catered for workers from across industrial Northern England, who packed its beaches and promenade. Other northern towns (for example Scarborough, Bridlington, Morecambe and Skegness) shared in the success of this new concept, which spread rapidly to other British coastal towns including several on the coast of North Wales and notably Rhyl, and Llandudno, the largest resort in Wales and known as "The Queen of the Welsh Resorts", a title first implied as early as 1864.^[1] Some resorts, such as Bournemouth, were built as new towns by local landowners to appeal to wealthier vacationers. The south coast is packed with a number of seaside towns, the most being in Sussex which has the title 'Sussex by the Sea.'

From the last quarter of the twentieth century, the popularity of the British seaside resort has declined for the same reason that it first flourished: advancements in transportation. The greater accessibility of foreign holiday destinations, through package holidays and, more recently, European low-cost airlines, affords people the freedom to holiday abroad. Despite the loyalty of returning holiday-makers, resorts such as Blackpool have struggled to compete against the favorable weather of Southern European alternatives. Now, many symbols of the traditional British resort (holiday camps, end-of-the-pier shows and saucy postcards) are regarded by some as drab and outdated; the skies are imagined to be overcast (although British summers from the late 1980s onwards have often been warmer and sunnier than at any other time in living memory) and the beach windswept. This is not always true; for example Broadstairs in Kent has retained much of its old world charm with Punch and Judy and donkey rides and still remains popular being only one hour from the M25.

Many seaside towns have turned to other entertainment industries, and some of them have a good deal of nightlife. The cinemas and theaters often remain to become host to a number of pubs, bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Most of their entertainment facilities cater to local people and the beaches still remain popular during the summer months. Although international tourism turned people away from British seaside towns, it also brought in foreign travel and as a result, many seaside towns offer foreign language schools, the students of which often return to vacation and sometimes to settle.

Seaside resort

A seaside resort is a resort located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.

he coast has always been a recreational environment, although until the mid-nineteenth century, such recreation was a luxury only for the wealthy. Even in Roman times, the town of Baiae, by the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy, was a resort for those who were sufficiently prosperous. During the early nineteenth century, the Prince Regent popularized Brighton, on the south coast of England, as a fashionable alternative to the wealthy spa towns such as Cheltenham. Later, Queen Victoria's long-standing patronage of the Isle of Wight and Broadstairs in Kent ensured the seaside residence was a highly fashionable possession for those wealthy enough to afford more than one home. Nowadays, many beach resorts are available as far afield as Goa in India.

It was in the mid-nineteenth century that it became popular for people from less privileged classes to take holidays at seaside resorts. Improvements in transportation brought about by the industrial revolution enabled people to take vacations away from home, and led to the growth of coastal towns as seaside resorts. This is perhaps most strongly evidenced in England and Wales, where no point is more than 180 km from the coast.

Space tourism

Space tourism is the recent phenomenon of tourists paying for flights into space pioneered by Russia.

As of 2009, orbital space tourism opportunities are limited and expensive, with only the Russian Space Agency providing transport. The price for a flight brokered by Space Adventures to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft is $20–28 million.

Infrastructure for a suborbital space tourism industry is being developed through the construction of spaceports in numerous locations, including California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, Alaska, Wisconsin, Esrange in Sweden as well as the United Arab Emirates. Some use the term "personal spaceflight" as in the case of the Personal Spaceflight Federation.

A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry. For a list of such companies, and the spacecraft they are currently building, see list of private spaceflight companies.

Direct environmental impacts

Ecotourism operations occasionally fail to live up to conservation ideals. It is sometimes overlooked that ecotourism is a highly consumer-centered activity, and that environmental conservation is a means to further economic growth.^[9]

Although ecotourism is intended for small groups, even a modest increase in population, however temporary, puts extra pressure on the local environment and necessitates the development of additional infrastructure and amenities. The construction of water treatment plants, sanitation facilities, and lodges come with the exploitation of non-renewable energy sources and the utilization of already limited local resources.^[11] The conversion of natural land to such tourist infrastructure is implicated in deforestation and habitat deterioration of butterflies in Mexico and squirrel monkeys in Costa Rica.^[7] In other cases, the environment suffers because local communities are unable to meet the infrastructure demands of ecotourism. The lack of adequate sanitation facilities in many East African parks results in the disposal of campsite sewage in rivers, contaminating the wildlife, livestock, and people who draw drinking water from it.^[9]

Aside from environmental degradation with tourist infrastructure, population pressures from ecotourism also leaves behind garbage and pollution associated with the Western lifestyle.^[13] Although ecotourists claim to be educationally sophisticated and environmentally concerned, they rarely understand the ecological consequences of their visits and how their day-to-day activities append physical impacts on the environment. As one scientist observes, they "rarely acknowledge how the meals they eat, the toilets they flush, the water they drink, and so on, are all part of broader regional economic and ecological systems they are helping to reconfigure with their very activities."^[11] Nor do ecotourists recognize the great consumption of non-renewable energy required to arrive at their destination, which is typically more remote than conventional tourism destinations. For instance, an exotic journey to a place 10,000 kilometers away consumes about 700 liters of fuel per person

Negative impact of tourism

Ecotourism has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of the tourism industry, growing annually by 10-15% worldwide (Miller, 2007). One definition of ecotourism is “the practice of low-impact, educational, ecologically and culturally sensitive travel that benefits local communities and host countries” (Honey, 1999). Many of the ecotourism projects are not meeting these standards. Even if some of the guidelines are being executed, the local communities are still facing other negative impacts. South Africa is one of the countries that are reaping significant economic benefits from ecotourism, but negative effects - including physical displacement of persons, gross violation of fundamental rights, and environmental hazards - far outweigh the medium-term economic benefits (Miller, 2007). A tremendous amount of money is being spent and human resources continue to be used for ecotourism despite the lack of success, and even more money is put into public relation campaigns to dilute the effects of criticism. Ecotourism channels resources away from other projects that could contribute more sustainable and realistic solutions to pressing social and environmental problems. “The money tourism can generate often ties parks and managements to eco-tourism” (Walpole et al. 2001). But there is a tension in this relationship because eco-tourism often causes conflict and changes in land-use rights, fails to deliver promises of community-level benefits, damages environments, and has plenty of other social impacts. Indeed many argue repeatedly that eco-tourism is neither ecologically nor socially beneficial, yet it persists as a strategy for conservation and development (West, 2006). While several studies are being done on ways to improve the ecotourism structure, these examples provide rationale for stopping it altogether

Definitional problems and greenwashing

To approach an understanding of the problem, a clear definition must delineate what is, and is not, ecotourism. Ideally, ecotourism satisfies several general criteria, including the conservation of biological diversity and cultural diversity through ecosystem protection, promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity, share of socio-economic benefits with local communities through informed consent and participation, increase in environmental and cultural knowledge, affordability and reduced waste, and minimization of its own environmental impact.^[5][6] In such ways, it contributes to the long term benefits to both the environment and local communities.

However, in the continuum of tourism activities that stretch from conventional tourism to ecotourism proper, there has been a lot of contention to the limit at which biodiversity preservation, local socio-economic benefits, and environmental impact can be considered "ecotourism". For this reason, environmentalists, special interest groups, and governments define ecotourism differently. Environmental organizations have generally insisted that ecotourism is nature-based, sustainably managed, conservation supporting, and environmentally educated.^{[12][7] [9]} The tourist industry and governments, however, focus more on the product aspect, treating ecotourism as equivalent to any sort of tourism based in nature.^[12] As a further complication, many terms are used under the rubric of ecotourism.^[7][5] Nature tourism, low impact tourism, green tourism, bio-tourism, ecologically responsible tourism, and others have been used in literature and marketing, although they are not necessary synonymous with ecotourism

History

Ecotourism, responsible tourism, jungle tourism and sustainable development have become prevalent concepts since the late 1980s, and ecotourism has experienced arguably the fastest growth of all sub-sectors in the tourism industry. The popularity represents a change in tourist perceptions, increased environmental awareness, and a desire to explore natural environments.^[3] Such changes have become as much a statement affirming one's social identity, educational sophistication, and disposable income as it has about preserving the Amazon rainforest or the Caribbean reef for posterity

Criteria

Ecotourism is a form of tourism that involves traveling to tranquil and unpolluted natural areas. According to the definition and principles of ecotourism established by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) in 1990, ecotourism is "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." (TIES, 1990). Martha Honey, expands on the TIES definition by describing the seven characteristics of ecotourism, which are:

• Involves travel to natural destinations.
• Minimizes impact.
• Builds environmental awareness.
• Provides direct financial benefits for conservation.
• Provides financial benefits and empowerment for local people.
• Respects local culture.
• Supports human rights and demographic movements

Ecotourism

Ecotourism is travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low impact and (often) small scale. It helps educate the traveler; provides funds for conservation; directly benefits the economic development and political empowerment of local communities; and fosters respect for different cultures and for human rights.^[1] As defined by the co-founder of the Center for Responsible Travel, Martha Honey, Ph.D., in her book Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, Second Edition: Who Owns Paradise?. Most serious studies of ecotourism including several University programs now use this as the working definition.^[2]

Ecotourism (also known as ecological tourism) is a form of tourism, that appeals to ecologically and socially conscious individuals. Generally speaking, ecotourism focuses on volunteering, personal growth and learning new ways to live on the planet. It typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. Ecotourism is a conceptual experience, enriching those who delve into researching and understanding the environment around them. It gives us insight into our impacts, as human beings and also a greater appreciation of our own natural habitats.

Responsible ecotourism includes programs that minimize the negative aspects of conventional tourism on the environment and enhance the cultural integrity of local people. Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental and cultural factors, an integral part of ecotourism is the promotion of recycling, energy efficiency, water conservation and creation of economic opportunities for the local communities

Disaster tourism

Disaster tourism took hold in the Greater New Orleans Area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. There are now guided bus tours to neighborhoods that were severely damaged by storm-related flooding. Some local residents have criticized these tours as unethical, because the tour companies are profiting from the misery of their communities and families. The Army Corps of Engineers has noted that traffic from tour buses and other tourist vehicles have interfered with the movement of trucks and other cleanup equipment on single-lane residential roads. Furthermore, during the first six months after the storm, most of these neighborhoods lacked electricity, phone access, street signs, or access to emergency medical or police assistance. Simply traveling to these neighborhoods was hazardous. For these reasons, organized disaster tours are now banned from two of the most severely damaged areas in the city, the Lower 9th and St. Bernard Parish near the Industrial Canal.

On the other hand, such communities as Gentilly and Lakeview, along the 17th Street Canal, have welcomed organized tour groups as a means to publicize the scale of the destruction and attract more aid to the city. Much of the recovery effort in the New Orleans relies on out-of-state volunteers and donations. Numerous non-profit organization, including Habitat for Humanity International and Catholic Charities, have converged on the city to gut and rebuild homes. There is also a movement by local residents to bring congressmen and other national leaders to the city and view the damage in person, since recovery efforts have been hampered by the failure of many homeowners and businesses to receive claims from their insurance providers.

Dark tourism

Dark tourism (also black tourism or grief tourism) is tourism involving travel to sites associated with death and suffering. Thanatourism,^[1] derived from the Ancient Greek word thanatos for the personification of death, is associated with dark tourism but refers more specifically to violent death; it is used in fewer contexts than the terms dark tourism and grief tourism.

This includes castles and battlefields such as Culloden near Inverness, Scotland; sites of disaster, either natural or man made such as Ground Zero in New York; prisons now open to the public such as Beaumaris Prison in Anglesey, Wales; and purpose built centers such as the London Dungeon.

One of the most notorious destinations for dark tourism is the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz in Poland, Chernobyl site in ex USSR or Bran Castle, Poienari Castle in Romania.

Culinary tourism

Judging by the surge since 2001 in the number of times "culinary tourism" has appeared as a subject matter or in a session title in tourism industry conferences and programs, we can see that Culinary Tourism is valued by tourism industry professionals as one of the most popular niches in the world's tourism industry. This makes sense, given recent consumer focus on healthy and organic eating, culinary/food pedigrees, and the simple fact that all travelers must eat. Not every visitor goes shopping or visits museums, but all travelers eat. For anyone who doubts, look at the increase in cooking shows featured on The Travel Channel [Anthony Bourdain No Reservations] or travel shows featured on The Food Network [Rachel Ray's $40 a Day series], as examples.

Culinary Tourism is defined as the pursuit of unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences, according to the International Culinary Tourism Association.[1] Culinary Tourism differs from agritourism in that culinary tourism is considered a subset of cultural tourism (cuisine is a manifestation of culture) whereas agritourism is considered a subset of rural tourism, according to Culinary Tourism: The Hidden Harvest [Wolf, Erik. Culinary Tourism: The Hidden Harvest.Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-0757526770) . That said, culinary tourism and agritourism are inextricably linked, as the seeds of cuisine can be found in agriculture.

Culinary Tourism is not just experiences of the highest caliber - that would be gourmet tourism. This is perhaps best illustrated by the notion that Culinary Tourism is about what is "unique and memorable, not what is necessarily pretentious and exclusive". Similarly, wine tourism, beer tourism and spa tourism are also regarded as subsets of culinary tourism

Historical archive on tourism

The Historical Archive on Tourism (HAT, Historisches Archiv zum Tourismus) is sited in the city of Berlin at the Freie Universiät Berlin, housed at the Willy-Scharnow-Institut für Tourismus. The HAT had been founded in 1989; today the length of the shelves amounts to some 400 running meter. The focus of the material is not on “travel” generally but on “tourism” as a special sort of travelling. The HAT is probably the biggest archive in this field, gathering various materials ranging from Baedekers to private photo albums, in particular there is an extensive collection of flyers and other so-called ephemera. Mainly the material stems from Central Europe, in particular from Germany, but nearly all other parts of the world are also represented, e.g. Southern Africa or USA. Some 200 journals and 9000 books are registered. In addition statistics, posters and maps are gathered. The bulk of the material is from the 19th and 20th century, some books date back to around 1600. No OPAC is installed but short lists are published in the Internet

Reasons for popularity

People are more interested in how their food is produced and want to meet the producers and talk with them about what goes into food production.^{[citation needed]} Children who visit the farms often have not seen a live duck, or pig, and have not picked an apple right off the tree.^{[citation needed]} This form of expanded agri-tourism has given birth to what are often called "entertainment farms."^[1] These farms cater to the pick-your-own crowd, offering not only regular farm products, but also food, mazes, open-pen animals, train rides, picnic facilities and pick-your-own produce.^[11]

Agritourism was featured in the NBC Sitcom The Office in the episode entitled Money from season 4.The character Dwight Schrute lives and maintains a beet farm, which is well known to everybody in the office. In the episode Dwight explains that Trip Advisor is the lifeblood of the Agrotourism industry. The characters Jim and Pam then proceed to visit the farm, where they choose the "irigation" themed room and proceed to plow the fields, make wine from beets, and watch a table making demonstration

Agritourism in the United States

In America, agritourism is wide-spread^{[citation needed]} and includes any farm open to the public at least part of the year.^{[citation needed]} Tourists can pick fruits and vegetables, ride horses, taste honey, learn about wine, shop in farm gift shops and farm stands for local and regional produce or hand-crafted gifts. Such "U-pick" farms were at their most popular in the 1970s.^[1] Other terms associated with agritourism are "farm direct marketing", "sustainable agriculture" and "agritainment".

According the USDA, Cooperative State, Education and Extension Service, "Tourism is becoming increasingly important to the U.S. economy. A conservative estimate from the Federal Reserve Board in Kansas, based on 2000 data, shows that basic travel and tourism industries accounted for 3.6 percent of all U.S. employment. Even more telling, data from the Travel Industry Association of America indicate that 1 out of every 18 people in the U.S. has a job directly resulting from travel expenditures."^[2][3][4]

Through the Small Farm Center at the University of California, "Agricultural tourism or agritourism, is one alternative for improving the incomes and potential economic viability of small farms and rural communities. Some forms of agritourism enterprises are well developed in California, including fairs and festivals. Other possibilities still offer potential for development."^[5] They have developed a California Agritourism Database that "provides visitors and potential entrepreneurs with information about existing agritourism locations throughout the state."^[6] In the, Agricultural Tourism: Helpful Agricultural Tourism (Agritourism) Definitions fact sheet by the Small Farm Center, definitions are provided for terminology associated in agritourism including the actual phrase, "Agricultural Tourism" which is defined as referring to the "act of visiting a working farm or any agricultural, horticultural or agribusiness operation for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or active involvement in the activities of the farm or operation

Adventure travel

An outdoor travel and adventure outfitter in Ottawa, Canada.

Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler should "expect the unexpected". Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity, as tourists seek different kinds of vacations. According to the U.S. based Adventure Travel Trade Association, adventure travel may be any tourist activity, including two of the following three components: a physical activity, a cultural exchange or interaction and engagement with nature.

Adventure tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone. This may be from experiencing culture shock or through the performance of acts, that require significant effort and involve some degree of risk (real or perceived) and/or physical danger. This may include activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, mountain biking, rafting, zip-lining and rock climbing. Some obscure forms of adventure travel include disaster tourism and ghetto tourism.^[1] Other rising forms of adventure travel include social tourism, jungle tourism and overland travel.

Access to inexpensive consumer technology, with respect to Global Positioning Systems, flashpacking, social networking and photography, have increased the worldwide interest in adventure travel

Adventure recreation

Rafting

Adventure recreation refers to active and outdoor activities such as backpacking (wilderness), rafting, climbing, and outdoor survival. A few universities give degrees in adventure recreation, which aim to teach graduates how to run a business in the field of adventure recreation. Along with hands-on training on activities included in adventure recreation, basic courses needed for any business, such as accounting, are required to obtain a degree. Some adventure recreation businesses cater to tourists, while others, such as indoor rock climbing, appeal to people wanting to be active on a regular basis.

In contemporary society, the term outdoor adventure generally implies an educational or recreational activity that is exciting and physically challenging. Adventure recreation can be any number of leisure pursuits which provide exposure to physical danger.

University Outdoor Recreation programs are becoming more popular in the United States. Universities often offer indoor rock climbing walls, equipment rental, ropes courses and trip programming.

Specific needs and requirements

Specific problems found by the disabled tourist when booking a holiday include:

• Inaccessible, or only partly accessible, web sites
• Lack of accessible airport transfer
• Lack of wheelchair accessible vehicles
• Lack of well-adapted hotel rooms
• Lack of professional staff capable of informing and advising about accessibility issues
• Lack of reliable information about a specific attraction's level of accessibility (church, castle, exhibition, etc.)
• Lack of accessible restaurants, bars, etc
• Lack of adapted toilets in restaurants and public places
• Inaccessible streets (cars parking in the stepwalk, etc)
• Lack of disability equipment (wheelchairs, bath chairs, toilet raisers, electric scooters)

Accessible tourism

As of 2008, there are more than 50 million persons with disabilities in Europe, and more than 600 million around the world. When expanded to include all beneficiaries of accessible tourism, as defined above, the number grows to some 130 million people in Europe alone.^[1] In addition to the social benefits, the market represents an opportunity with new investment opportunities and new service requirements, rarely provided by the regular travel agencies, transport providers and other key players in the tourism sector.

According to ENAT, the European Network for Accessible Tourism, accessible tourism includes: ^[1]

• Barrier-free destinations: infrastructure and facilities
• Transport: by air, land and sea, suitable for all users
• High quality services: delivered by trained staff
• Activities, exhibits, attractions: allowing participation in tourism for everyone
• Marketing, booking systems, Web sites & services: accessible for all (i.e. accessible information

References

1. ^ "World Tourism Barometer" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. 2007. 8. http://unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/barometer/unwto_barom07_2_en.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
2. ^ Tourism Directorate (France) (2007). "Key facts on tourism" (PDF). http://www.tourisme.gouv.fr/fr/z2/stat/chiffres/att00009212/ccles_gb.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
3. ^ "UNWTO technical manual: Collection of Tourism Expenditure Statistics" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. 1995. 14. http://pub.unwto.org/WebRoot/Store/Shops/Infoshop/Products/1034/1034-1.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-03-26.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "UNWTO World Tourism Barometer June 2008" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. June 2008. http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-08-01. Volume 6 No. 2
5. ^ ^{a b c d} World Tourism Organization (October 2008). "UNWTO World Tourism Barometer October 2008" (PDF). UNWTO. http://unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/barometer/UNWTO_Barom08_3_en_Excerpt.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-11-17. Volume 6, Issue 3
6. ^ Werner Hunziker and Kurt (1942). Grundriss der allgemeinen Fremdenverkehrslehre. OCLC 69064371. ; cf. Hasso Spode in Günther Haehling (ed.): Tourismus-Management, Berlin 1998
7. ^ International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism. "The AIEST, its character and aims". http://www.aiest.org/org/idt/idt_aiest.nsf/en/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
8. ^ ^{a b c} "UNWTO Tourism Highlights, Edition 2007" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. 2007. http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/highlights/highlights_07_eng_hr.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
9. ^ Touristik report. January 2008 (German)
10. ^ "Monthly Market Report: Germany" (PDF). Tourism Australia. February 2008. http://www.tourism.australia.com/content/MRRs/2008/Germany_MMR_Feb08.pdf.
11. ^ ^{a b} Forbes Traveller (2007-04-25). "Top 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions". http://www.forbestraveler.com/best-lists/most-visited-tourist-attractions-story.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
12. ^ The Hopeful Traveler (2007-07-29). "Forbes Traveler 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions". http://thehopefultraveler.blogspot.com/2007_07_29_archive.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
13. ^ ^{a b} Caroline Bremner (2009-01-07). "Trend Watch: Euromonitor International’s Top City Destinations Ranking". Euromonitor International. http://www.euromonitor.com/Trend_Watch_Euromonitor_Internationals_Top_City_Destinations_Ranking. Retrieved on 2009-01-16.
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