Water, Electricity, Drainage and Sewerage Systems.
Water and electricity are two (2) of a country’s resources utilised by tourists. Without these resources, especially in the case of water, tourists would be reluctant to visit particular destinations. There must also be a proper drainage system throughout the destination to dispose of effluent. If this is not present in a destination, then the tourists would not appreciate the unhygienic repercussions.
Buildings
Some of the tourist activities or facilities would be housed in buildings in one form or fashion and therefore are seen as a very important component in the tourist product. These buildings would include restaurants, entertainment centres, conference centres and museums. The building structures in some destinations can also encourage tourists to visit that destination. For example, The Eiffel Tower in Italy and The Statue of Liberty in the United States can act as two (2) infrastructural “pull” factors for tourists.
Managers have to ensure that these infrastructure capacities are efficiently managed because these capacities must consider the requirements of the permanent residents and also the tourists. Timing is also another important area that must be managed. Destination Managers should ensure that the infrastructures are developed before the various tourism facilities are developed. Planning of these different infrastructures is also another important factor that destination managers should consider. These should be planned or designed over a long period of time to ensure efficiency. The following are some examples of infrastructure and the minimum requirements for each.
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Water Systems – These must deliver large quantities of potable water for human consumption, and for other means such as swimming pools in hotels.
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Electricity – Destination Managers should ensure that there is an adequate and continuous supply of power and at reasonable costs.
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Telecommunications – The destination should consist of a reliable telephone and mail system, and all the latest technology currently available for persons to contact their families or businesses, when they are vacationing or on a business trip.
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Sewage and Drainage – Adequate supplies of sewage and solid waste disposal systems are also needed. These systems would aid in reducing the damage on the reefs and also to dispose of solid waste, via incineration or land-fill operation.
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Streets and Highways – Destination Managers should ensure that there is proper planning of these in order to deliver an adequate mix of streets and highways in sensible locations. These managers should ensure that there is adequate ground transportation available for transporting tourists around the destination. Destination Managers should be aware that the growth of tourism has resulted in the strengthening of the transportation role. Modern engineering and technology have increased the need for higher quality construction of highways, bridges and airports.
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Building setbacks should be adequate. Destination Managers need to ensure that hotels are not developed too close to roads, other buildings and the shoreline. Setbacks are normally from about ten (10) to sixty (60) metres. Shorelines should be generous to conserve the beauty of the setting.
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Security – There should be an obvious presence of security in the destination. Destination Managers are aware that tourists want to feel safe within the destinations that they visit. Therefore, these managers should ensure that various forms of security such as surveillance, the Police Force and private security firms.
Superstructure
The destination’s superstructure also acts as a force, which “pulls” tourists to destinations. As stated by Doswell (1997, pg.49), the superstructure of a destination includes the following components described in the following paragraphs.
Accommodation
Accommodation includes any premises, temporary or permanent, other than domestic dwellings, where shelter and facilities are provided by use of people. According to Cooper et al (1998, pg.314), accommodation is central to tourism. It influences the tourism flows and the quality of accommodation contributes to success of the destination. The accommodation component supports the broader motivation for visiting the destination. Some forms of Accommodation include hotels, motels, hostels, cottages, villas, guest houses and farm houses. The demand for accommodation is influenced by developments in transport. Accommodation can promote different activities and forms of tourism, for the various tourists. For example, Farm Houses can promote Rural Tourism and Youth Hostels can promote Social Tourism.
There are various areas with which Destination Managers should consider, in regards to accommodation. One of these is the actual buildings in this sector, which would include hotels and motels. These buildings usually represent high capital investment; therefore, destination managers have to ensure that these buildings are always well-maintained. These managers also need to consider Site characteristics such as the location, design and décor of these buildings, as these could determine success or failure for the destination
The services offered at accommodations, such as Housekeeping, Front Office should also be managed. Destination Managers should ensure that the various hoteliers provide the high level of service that is required of them. Destination Managers also have to be concerned with the Materials Management system associated with the Accommodation sector. This includes ensuring that these different forms of accommodation have adequate supplies of linens, equipment and parts for the equipment. The destination Managers should also ensure that the Accommodation Managers perform certain Health and Safety responsibilities. These include:
- Providing and maintaining a safe plant and systems.
- Providing information, training and supervision to maintain health and safety standards.
- Maintain safe workplaces including entrances and exits.
Managers should also ensure that these various forms of accommodations are accessible by the handicapped. These facilities would include areas such as:
- Developing hard, smooth and wide walkway paving surfaces.
- Ramped access with automatic door openings at the entrance.
- Restrooms, drinking fountains and public telephones designed for use by persons in wheelchairs.
Other Tourist Services
These services as stated by Inskeep (1991) also act as “pull” factors or motivators, and these are described in the following paragraphs.
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Restaurants – These are essential to the Tourism sector. Local cuisines offered at restaurants reflect the history and culture of the destination and can be an attraction for some tourists. This allows the tourists the opportunity to experience new foods.
Destination managers must reinforce that there is a high quality level of food, beverage and service provided to the tourists. They should ensure that local produce and local skills are utilised in the preparation of these cuisines, in order to achieve economic benefits for the country. They must also ensure that levels of hygiene are maintained in these establishments and that there are fair prices attached to the food and beverages. Managers should also reinforce that the establishment has a high level of physical attractiveness and comfort and that they are located in areas that are easily accessible by tourists.
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Entertainment – This is referred to as the traditional and contemporary performing arts, and can be in the form of nightclubs, discos and evening entertainment by some restaurants in various hotels and resorts.
Managers need to evaluate the type and quality of entertainment that already exists within the destination and ensure that any necessary improvements are made to these facilities. Managers must also investigate the most suitable types of entertainment that should be pursued for the particular areas.
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Gambling casinos – These have been developed as major attractions in certain areas but are usually in areas that have limited natural and cultural attraction features and where there is little negative social impact on the host population.
In setting up these establishments, Destination Managers have to look at the type of clientele they wish to attract and the ways in which they can market gambling to various tourist markets. They must also ensure that control systems are in place, to alleviate negative social impacts, such as crime and drugs.
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Shopping– This is referred to as an attraction for those tourists who want to purchase arts, handicrafts, souvenirs, specialty items such as jewellery and fashion clothes and duty-free items such as liquor, tobacco and electronics.
Destination Managers should ensure that convenience items such as toiletries, newspapers and magazines are easily accessible and available. Personal services such as barbers, massage parlours and beautician shops should also be available. Managers should also be concerned with the location of these services, to ensure that they are readily accessible by tourists. They must also ensure that these services are not under or over – priced for the tourists.
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Retail outlets – These offer various handicraft souvenirs to the tourists. The sale of these items provides income for the residents. These items also represent important aspects of the cultural heritage of an area.
Measures should be put in place by the Destination Managers to ensure that these handicrafts are authentic, in terms of utilising local labour and materials. Minimum standards could be established for these handicrafts. These should then be inspected by the Managers to ensure that they meet the stipulated standards to ensure authenticity.
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Visitor information booths - These provide information on the destination to tourists. These are usually provided by government tourism offices, hotels and tour and travel agencies.
Destination managers must ensure that these information booths are strategically located throughout the destination. They also have to ensure that these booths also provide accurate and current information on various attractions, services and facilities available to visitors in multi-lingual forms.
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Banks and money exchange booths are also included in the services offered to tourists.
Destination Managers should ensure that these booths are conveniently located for the tourists and that there is a high level of service quality provided by personnel at these booths. They must also reinforce the fact of having speedy and simple money exchange transactions. The managers need to evaluate the banking services and ensure that tourists are able to make money transfers to their countries. These managers should also investigate the credit cards and travellers cheques utilised by the tourists and ensure that they can be easily used by the tourists in the destination.
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Medical Facilities and Services – Some tourists may have health problems such as asthma or diabetes and therefore there should be adequate medical facilities readily available to the tourists.
Destination Managers should ensure that there is an availability of highly-trained medical personnel and properly-equipped hospitals and clinics, with a variety of medication available. In the event that there is adventure tourism promoted in the destination, for example, river rafting or mountain climbing, managers should ensure that there are helicopter evacuation services available for the tourists.
Attractions
According to Charles et al (2000, pg. 3), Attractions are “all areas or sites, which are seen as major assets in attracting visitors to a country”. Charles et al classified Attractions in four (4) ways, and these are as follows:
- Natural Attractions – Focus is on sites, which showcase natural phenomena, forest and other nature reserves, caves, botanic gardens, marine parks, waterfalls and volcanoes.
- Cultural Attractions – Refer to displays of the cultural norms of a destination, for example, local festivals, handicraft exhibitions and drama.
- Heritage Attractions – Attractions, which relate to the history of the country, for example monuments, colonial buildings and archaeological sites.
- Man-made Attractions – Refer to physical structures such as theme parks, sporting facilities and gaming facilities.
Gunn (1994, pg. 57) stated that the attractions of a destination constitute the most powerful component of the supply side of tourism. They make up the energising power unit of the tourism system. Without attractions, service businesses would not be required, except for local trade. Attractions have two (2) functions. One of these is that they lure, entice and stimulate interest. When people become aware of attractions offered by destinations, they decide to visit these destinations to patronise these attractions. The second function is that Attractions provide visitor satisfaction, which is seen as the rewards of travel.
Destination Managers have the challenge of managing the different Attractions within the destination. The minimisation of the negative impacts on these attractions, act as ways in which these attractions can be effectively managed. For example, Barbados is mainly promoted as a Beach Resort destination. The destination managers need to ensure that the beaches are pollution-free, for both the tourists and locals.
Other natural attractions such as coastal and marine resources and vegetation also need to be free of negative environmental impacts, in order to preserve their natural forms for the enjoyment of the tourists. Managers could implement or enforce laws providing rules and regulations for divers, snorkellers and those involved in cruising and yachting tourism to adhere to, to ensure the preservation of these natural attractions.
In managing the Cultural and Heritage Attractions, the Destination Managers should ensure that locals have convenient access to the attractions, for example by lowering entrance fees. These managers should ensure that the carrying capacities stipulated for these attractions are not violated, in order to reduce overcrowding and negative environmental impacts at these attractions. Managers have the responsibility to ensure that authenticity is maintained in cultural expression. For example, in Barbados, this is achieved through the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA). Destination managers also need to ensure that they promote local ownership, management and operation of these attractions because the local residents are the persons who are more knowledgeable of these attractions and can therefore be of greater assistance to tourists.
For Man-made attractions, Destination Managers should guarantee substantial infrastructure, tourist facilities and in some instances accommodation. In developing theme parks, these Managers should investigate the type and size that is best suited for the area, through the use of feasibility studies. Managers have the responsibility of ensuring that there is a large undeveloped site for the theme park and that there is adequate undeveloped land next to the proposed site, for accommodation and tourist facilities. Another area is that the Destination Managers have to ensure that there is adequate infrastructure such as water supply and electricity available for the theme park.
Promotion of Various Types of Tourism
Because of these various types of attractions offered at destinations, different types of Tourism can be promoted. These different forms of tourism allow different types of tourists to visit these destinations. For example, in the Caribbean, the tourists come to the islands for the natural beauty and beaches, which the islands have to offer. With the emergence of the “New Tourist”, the Caribbean islands have promoted different features of the destination, in order to “pull” these new tourists to the destinations. For example, Barbados has started on the path of Sports Tourism, in terms of golf, by constructing a golf course in the Durants Area. Guyana has started in the direction of Eco-Tourism by the promotion of their virgin territories.
The management of different forms of tourism, such as Sports Tourism are also concerns for Destination Managers. For example, Barbados has included golf as a new thrust in sports tourism. In attempting to manage this new interest, Destination Managers need to consider the area of whether the existing infrastructure and superstructure can serve this new sports trend. They have to consider whether the destination has the necessary number of golf courses at a high standard, in order to position them as a golf destination, or if there is an availability of resources to develop them. Convenient locations and accessibility to these golf courses are also considerations that Destination Managers have to be aware of in developing this form of tourism.
Intangible Elements
These include hospitality courtesy, friendliness, atmosphere or ambience. These intangible elements can also act as “pull” factors to destinations, because each event or situation that the tourist experience contributes to the overall feeling and impression of the destination. Persons are not just interested in visiting a destination for attractions, but they are also considering the quality aspect of the trip, in terms of employees’ attitudes towards them, to ensure value for money.
Doswell (1997, pg. 49) stated that these intangible elements are difficult to evaluate and measure. These elements come together to form the atmosphere of a place and its feeling of welcome and friendliness. These intangible elements give the tourist product its life, colour and excitement, and can guarantee satisfaction. These elements can influence the tourists’ perspectives on the destination. If a tourist felt that they had poor service at the destination, they may decide not to visit the destination, or restrict their visitation to that destination to a minimum.
The management of the intangible “pull” factor elements may prove to be the most difficult for the Destination Managers. This is because these managers have to manage and deal with the varying attitudes and beliefs of each individual. In attempting to manage these elements, the managers should ensure that there are various training sessions enforcing the importance of service quality to tourists.
This training could include sessions dealing with the “Moments of Truth” encounters experienced between tourists and locals. These “Moments of Truth” are referred to as “any episode in which the customer comes into contact with any aspect of the organization and gets an impression of the quality of its service.”(Woods and King, 1996, pg.99)These questions are designed so that hotel managers and staff can view each moment of truth from the guests’ perspectives and also in terms of achieving the company’s mission. These Moments of Truth give the managers and employees the opportunity to analyse how they can ensure that the guests receive quality service at the destination.
Destination Managers also have to implement strategies and or plans to manage Product Formulation. Product Formulation is referred to as the linking of various facilities and services, for example, activity packages. Many tour operators commoditise destinations and make it difficult for destinations to be differentiated. Destination Managers can manage Product Formulation by ensuring that there are the necessary skills and packaging required to successfully pursue new areas of tourism. They would have to review packages that were offered in order to effectively manage Product Formulation. For example, these managers would have to ensure that they realize that a cricket tour package requires more than cricket fixtures. They also have to consider those persons accompanying the cricketers, and the skill in identifying and organizing the elements in order to create attractive programs for tourists.
In conclusion, one can see that the Destination Managers have the task of ensuring the development or improvement of some factors within the destination, in order to ensure the destination’s success. Strategies and plans must be put in place in order for these managers to execute and complete successful developments in the destination. The importance of the efficient management of these factors can be summed in the words of Roger Doswell.
Doswell (1997, pg. 49) stated that “a destination with natural and cultural attractions and an agreeable climate then needs both infrastructure and superstructure. There has to be access to get there. New hotels need power and water. Roads have to be built and harbours expanded. Drainage, waste disposal systems and other services need to be provided in order to ensure the survival of a destination and also to “pull” or retain tourists in a destination”.
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