Leisure is estimated to account for 75 per cent of all international travel. The World Tourism Organisation estimated there were 694 million international tourist arrivals in 2003, a drop of 1.2 per cent (attributed to the problems of the Iraq conflict, SARS and a generally weak world economy). Arrivals have picked up in 2004, and they are expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2020. Domestic tourism (people going on holiday in their own country) is generally thought to be 4-5 times greater than international arrivals.
Globally, tourism accounts for roughly 35 per cent of exports of services and over 8 per cent of exports of goods. Tourism is now the world’s largest employer. In 2001, the International Labour Organisation estimated that globally over 207 million jobs were directly or indirectly employed in tourism. In the UK alone, 10% of total employment is in the tourism sector.
People who have employment within the UK usually earn a high salary compared to the rest of the world and people consider that they must strike a work/life balance and hence spend more time on holidays.
The UK has seen a greater increase in car ownership since the 1950’s when in 1951 only 1 in 20 families’s had a car, by 1996 this figure had risen to 71% of all UK families owned at least 1 vehicle and by 2005 this figure has risen with many families owning 2 vehicles. The increase in car ownership obviously goes hand in hand with an improvement in the transport system of the UK which since the 1950’s has seen improvements in roads especially motorways and urban by-passes have resulted in driving times between places reduced and encourage people to travel more frequently and greater distances. Keswick has excellent an excellent road system and is easy to reach being just 20 minutes along the A66 trunk road from junction 40 of the M6 motorway.
As mentioned above a major factor for the increase in tourism in the Keswick area has been a change in lifestyle compared to the 1950’s, people are retiring early and living longer and are able to take advantage of their greater fitness, also many people due to retiring early and greater disposable income has seen an increase in people buying 2nd homes in the Keswick area. There has been an increase in active holidays compared to the 1950’s with a lot more people involved in water sports and fell running etc which the Keswick area offers a wide choice of such activities.
Since the 1950’s now almost everybody has a television and many have access to the internet, there is a greater ability to access information about holiday and tourism in general and the tourism industry use all means of advertising.
There has been an increase in Green tourism or sustainable tourism which the Lake District and Keswick are a prime example where tourism is needed to benefit the local economy and the environment with people visiting the area and not spoiling the natural beauty of the area.
With the increase in tourism since the 1950’s there have been several areas described as Honey pot Sites In geography, a honey pot is a particularly popular attraction within a managed tourist area, such as a national park. Honey pot sites are often encouraged because they concentrate the damage caused by tourists on small sites, making conservation easier in other parts of the managed area.
The problem is how to preserve the honey pots natural beauty and their unspoilt quality while providing facilities for the hordes of people who arrive at peak summer periods.
The main problem with Honey pot sites is too many tourists overcrowding small places. Due to the fact that footpaths are been overused, they get eroded casing the council to pay out a large sum of money to repair these paths. There is a high level of litter, vandalism and trespassing on Honey pot sites which causes discomfort and trouble to those who live there this has sparked off a conflict between local farmers and tourists which has caused, restricting tourists access to footpaths, bridleways and separating activities, e.g. Water Skiing and Angling. Also roads have been congested by heavy Lorries, local traffic and tourist traffic which has caused scenic routes separating local and tourist traffic.
A National Park is an area of great natural beauty can be preserved and enhanced, and so that enjoyment of the scenery by the public can be promoted. There are12 National parks in England these 11 parks contain some of the most diverse and spectacular upland and a variety of scenery which in turn provides a wide range of recreational activities. All the parks provide basic opportunities for walking, riding, fishing and water sports. These parks are within easy reach of both urban and rural conurbations, they all have motorways running near them which make them all easy access sites.
National Parks are mostly owned privately (81%) , mainly by farmers with 6% owned by the Forestry Commission, 5% to the National Trust , 3% to the ministry of defence , 3% to the water authorities.
The aims of National parks were updated in 1995, the aims were:
- To conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Parks.
- To promote opportunities for the public understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the Parks.
The idea for a form of national parks was first proposed in the United States in the 1800s where National Parks were established to protect wilderness areas such as Yosemite this model has been used in many other countries since, but not in the United Kingdom. After thousands of years of human integration into the landscape, Britain lacks natural areas of wilderness. Furthermore, those areas of natural beauty so cherished by the romantic poets were often only maintained and managed in their existing state by human activity, usually agriculture. In1931, Christopher Addison chaired a government committee that proposed a 'National Park Authority' to choose areas for designation as national parks. A system of national reserves and nature sanctuaries was proposed:
1. To safeguard areas of exceptional natural interest against (a) disorderly development and (b) spoliation;
2. To improve the means of access for pedestrians to areas of natural beauty; and
3. To promote measures for the protection of flora and fauna.
In 1947 by a Government committee, this time chaired by Sir Hobhouse, which prepared legislation for national parks, and proposed 12 national parks. Sir Arthur had this to say on the criteria for designating suitable areas:
"The essential requirements of a National Park are that it should have great natural beauty, a high value for open-air recreation and substantial continuous extent. Further, the distribution of selected areas should as far as practicable be such that at least one of them is quickly accessible from each of the main centers of population in Wales and England Lastly there is merit in variety and with the wide diversity of landscape which is available in England and Wales, it would be wrong to confine the selection of National Parks to the more rugged areas of mountain and moorland, and to exclude other districts which, though of less outstanding grandeur and wildness, have their own distinctive beauty and a high recreational value."
History
Granted its market character by Edward in 1276. Keswick was an important wool and leather centre until about 1500.
Location
Keswick is standing on the shore of Derwentwater at the junction north, south east and west routes through the Lake District. It is situated in the north of the Lake District it is surrounded by lots of tall mountains. Carlise to Keswick 39m, Penrith 20m, Windermere 23, and Workington 22.
Maps
Here are some maps to show you where about Keswick is positioned.
Map of Great Britain
Map of North West
Map of Cumbria
Map of Keswick
As you can see Keswick is very accessible due to the many roads that go through it and pass close by.
Landscape around Keswick
The Landscape around Keswick has stunning scenery, it has many lakes and mountains near by and it has vast countryside. It also has a well kept old town centre which is very popular for tourists, where they can buy souvenirs and enjoy dinner at the many restaurants. Here are some pictures to show why Keswick is a honeypot site because of its breath taking scenery.
Here is at the centre of Keswick where there are many shops.
Here is a picture of one of Keswick’s beautiful lakes
Here is one if the breath taking views that attract hikers and walkers to go to Keswick.
A glacially eroded landscape
Tourists are attracted to the Lake District by the spectacular landscape, which has been formed mainly by glacial erosion.
The world’s climate is continuously changing. Between 14 and 20 glacial periods have occurred in the last 1 million years. The most recent ice age started 100 000 years ago and ended 10 000 years ago. During it, ice sheets covered most of Britain north and the Midlands and changed the landscape by glacial erosion and deposition.
A glacier is a mass of moving ice. It erodes by two main processes:
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Plucking: water enters cracks in the rock and freezes so that it is attached to both the rock and the glacier. When the glacier moves, the block of rock is pulled out of the ground.
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Abrasion: Blocks of rock (or load) in the base and sides of the glacier are scraped over the rock surface. They scratch it, making parallel groves called striations. Abrasion has a sandpaper effect so the rock surface looks smooth.
Frost shattering also occurs in glacial environments. This is a weathering process, not an erosion process. When water enters a crack in the rock it expands by 10 per cent. The ice pushing on the sides of the crack it widens it. Blocks of rock can then fall on to the glacier from the valley side above. Frost-shattered rock surfaces are easier for glaciers to erode by plucking.
Corries are produced by glacial erosion. Red tarn corrie is an armchair-shaped hollow on the eastern side of Helvellyn mountain in the Lake District. It is 0.5 km wide and 1km from the front to back. The steep back and side walls are up to 220 m high. A small round lake called Red Tarn lies in the hollow in the base of the corrie. The water is kept in by a rock ridge on the floor of the corrie called a rock lip. The quickest way to identify a corrie on a map is to find a round lake less than 0.5 km in diameter with a U-shaped pattern of contours. How ever many of them do not have lakes in them.
Here is Red tarn corrie
Conclusion
My conclusion is that Keswick is defiantly a honeypot site, and that it is a honypot site because of its location and beautiful scenery. I also think that in time to come Keswick will still be honeypot site for years and years.
