Cultural tourism has been booming a lot in Europe and the European Union is encouraging cultural tourism by naming the EU city of cultural every year, starting from 2005. In 2008, United Kingdom has been very proud of Liverpool as the winner of EU city of cultural and this event helped to promote the tourism especially in Liverpool in a great deal.
Liverpool was the most successful European Capital of Culture ever with 1.5 million cultural visits, 7,000 events and 800 million pounds worth of economic benefits. It also holds the World Heritage City status given by UNESCO since it has the biggest single collection of Grade one listed buildings and more national galleries than any other city outside London. This becomes the main strength of Liverpool to attract international tourists.
Social aspect of a destination can be taken into account in consideration of a tourist to travel to that place. Social features mainly consist of the lifestyle and the ethic of the host community. The flexibility of the local society will have great effect on the tourism and vice versa: i.e. Promoting the economic development of destination through the generation of foreign revenue and more employment by tourism will increase the level of social wellbeing and stability which will then affect to the creation of preferable environment for tourists to visit.
However, the development of tourism will bring a range of disadvantages to the local community directly as well as indirectly. First thing to be affected to the host is the loss of cultural identity (cultural pollution), especially to the young generation. The way they dress, speak and manner will become a copy of the tourist coming in and it will lead to the increase tension between elder generation and them. And the original culture of the host become faded away and will result in a fall in the level of tourists coming in to experience the different culture. In most developing countries, tourism has changed into sex-tourism and increase the crime rate mainly because of the currency difference and the abuse of sex in the industry. Thailand and Philippines are top in the queue of the sex tourism in South East Asia.
Physical features of a place or a destination are which differentiate and determine the kind of destination, and what is it famous for. Moreover, they can be regarded as the main characteristics of a destination to attract the visitors such as mountains; the Himalayas, Kilimanjaro and Atlas, forests; New Forest (uk), Colo I Suva Forest Reserve (Fiji); National and wildlife parks; Yellowstone Park(USA), Amboseli National Park(Kenya), Las Canada(Tenerife), the Pittier National Park(Venezuela), Fjord Land National Park(New Zealand), Lakes; Loch Ness (Scotland), Windermere (England), Inlay Lake (Burma), Beaches and coastlines; Phu Khat (Thailand), Viodokilia beach (Greece); Flora and Fauna; Great Barrier reef (Australia), Yellowstone Park (USA). The historic buildings and monuments are also appealing physical features of a destination.
However, as tourism develops in a destination, the mass tourism will irritate its natural, social and cultural environment and behaviors. When tourists enter the host country, they do not just bring their purchasing power and cause amenities to be set up for their use. They bring different type of behaviors which can profoundly transform local social habits by removing and upsetting the basic and long-established norms of the host population (Leonard and Carson, 1997). The excess amount of tourism may lead to very damaging repercussions: the transformation of traditional hospitality in many countries into commercial practice results in economic factors superseding personal relationship. Further results will be prostitution, begging, drug trafficking, relaxation of morals, loss of dignity and the appearance of consumerist behaviors. Moreover, it also has big issue about the negative impacts on the physical features and natural environment by causing pollutions, improper waste disposal, overcrowding and congestion, environmental hazards, ecological disruption and damage to historic and archaeological sites.
Top contrasting destinations in the world
A recent survey of world popular tourist destination conducted by travel websites specialists Trip Advisor revealed a list of world’s 100 best travel destinations in 2008 through a mixture of popular forums and articles and direct questions to the members of the sites (Tom James, 2008) Surprisingly, the French famous cities are not in top ten as well as UK’s cities such as Bath, England, Edinburgh and Scotland even though they are prominent in the survey. Here is the list of world’s best traveler choice destinations.
2008 Travellers’ Choice World Destinations
1. Milford Sound, New Zealand
2. Queenstown, New Zealand
3. Philipsburg, St. Maarten
4. Cayo Largo, Cuba
5. Rhodes, Greece
6. Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
7. Cruz Bay, St. John
8. Bridgetown, Barbados
9. Banff, Canada
10. Lake Tahoe, California
According to the list, Milford and Queenstown of New Zealand stand on the first and second spots. Milford Sound is situated in the southwest of New Zealand’s south island within World Heritage Fiord land National Park and claimed as New Zealand’s most famous tourist destination. The beauty of its awe-aspiring landscapes draws thousands of visitors each day. Again in the second place is New Zealand’s international resort, Queenstown with a long thin lake formed by glacial processes and shaped in like a staggered thunder bolt and its breath-taking view of nearby mountains.
In the third place is the famous island called Philipsburg (St. Maarten). The island is divided into two parts- Dutch site and French site. Dutch site is called St. Maarten and the French site is St. Martin. It is renowned for the beaches, jewellery, clothes, shopping, rich French and Caribbean cuisine, festive nightlife and the plenty of casinos. It homes to over hundred of gourmet restaurants which are moderately priced.
Shanghai- a famous destination of china
Shanghai is situated in the middle coast of mainland China, sits at the mouth Yangtze. This metropolis city is the important commerce and finance center of Mainland China and became world’s largest cargo port in 2005. The city has the population of 19,213,200. The predominant religion in Shanghai is Mahayana Buddhism which is followed by Taoism. Also, Shanghai is the important Christianity center of the mainland China. However, as it is a cosmopolitan city, there is a blend of religious buildings and institution including Muslim, Jewish and eastern Orthodox communities. The official language is standard mandarin though it has its own dialect called Shanghainese which comes from Wu Chinese. Shanghainese people hardly speak foreign languages. However, English has been taught as a mandatory subject starting from the first grade of the school.
Shanghai holds a rich collection of buildings with various architectural styles. The Bund which is located alongside of the river Huangpu, depicts a rich collection of 20th century architecture, ranging in style from neoclassical HSBC building to the art deco Sassoon House. Most of its historic buildings are notably of French concessions. This beautiful modern city is not only covered with sky scrapers but also has got a pride of beautiful historic awe-inspiring buildings.
Shanghai is renowned as a famous destination in China for its historical landmarks such as the Bund, City God Temple and Yuyuan Garden as well as its modern and breath-taking Pudong skyline and Oriental Pearl Tower. The Bund is the historical center of city former international settlement. The place is occupied by the many beautiful and grand historic buildings of early 20th architecture. The city also has the buildings revealed the design of contemporary architecture such as Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, People’s Square and so on. It is also one of the main tourist attractions in the city.
Other unique tourist attractions of the city are the Shanghainese cultural townhouses called shikumen. These are two or three storey townhouses which front yard is protected by a high brick wall. The residences are connected and arranged in the straight alley and the entrance is surrounded by stone arch which is very stylish.
The famous Pudong district is filled with super-tall sky scrapers which together form the unique modernized city skyline called Pudong Skyline. The most significant buildings are the Jin Mao Tower, the Shanghai World Finance Center which is the tallest scraper in Mainland China and the third tallest in the World, the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Development Tower and the Shanghai tower. Even though the city has processing redevelopment, it retains some traditional buildings such as Yuyaun Garden which is the main cultural site of the city.
Shanghai is the biggest and most developing commercial city in People Republic of China. Its mixture of beautiful historic sites and the modernized buildings draws the attention international tourists who love to explore the distinctive Chinese tradition, culture, festivals and the delicious cuisines. In addition, the hospitality of its people creates a warm and lovely atmosphere for tourists to enjoy. Since it is the main economic center of the country, the number of business traveler is significantly more than the tourists. All in all, Shanghai is such an appealing destination which has been accepting increasing number of tourists worldwide.
However, there are a few issues that become obstacles of developing Shanghai as a leading destination in the world. The main problem that obstructs the tourist interest is the language barrier. Even though there is some English language speaker in the business center of the city, it is just a limited number of people. Almost all the places such as the signboards, traffic sign, map and etc are written in Mandarin. Moreover, there is another language called Shanghainese language which comes from the dialect of Wu Chinese although Mandarin is the official language. This condition has a great effect in promoting the tourism of Shanghai. At least, visitors must have basic information of Mandarin to read the signboards or hire a tour guide or interpreter which will be more expensive or join a group tour instead of being an independent traveler. And a pocket dictionary which specialized in matching character and meaning with respective language will be quite helpful. Now, the government has made English as a mandatory subject starting from the first stage of their education. Therefore, it is hoped that English will be used wider in the younger generation which is a good plan for fading away the language problem for the tourists in the future.
Conclusion
Tourist destinations are so much important for the whole industry as they are the main products that attract people around the world to come and spend money on their experience. For a destination itself to be attractive to the tourists, it must have distinctive features to offer with the help of other tourism outlets such as hotels, transport, restaurants, motels and etc. A destination like Shanghai, a city of mixed eastern and western culture with modernization and historical attractions, is a worth visiting destination. Shanghai has been promoting its tourism in many ways.
Now in order to get the global attention; China has opened 2010 World Expo’s in Shanghai. Almost 250 countries and international organizations are showcasing their culture in an event themed around sustainable development. Some 70 million visitors - mostly Chinese - are expected to visit the Expo, which will be open for the next six months (BBC, 2010). By holding this Expo’s, Shanghai is expected to get more attention from all over the world and international tourist arrivals.
According to UNWTO, China will have the largest tourism industry in the world within next few years as it has lots of beautiful destination and its culture itself becomes attractive to the people around the world. It has already got the fourth place as a largest industry and its largest port city as well as main economic center; Shanghai stands in the tenth place as the most visited city in the world in 2007. It is no doubt that the tourism in Shanghai will develop more in the future by the help of 2010 World Expo’s and its attraction. And there will be more development when it has conquered its language problem for the tourists.
References and Bibliography
- Leonard J. Lickorish and Carson L. Jenkins, 1997, An Introduction Tourism, Oxford, Elsevier Science Ltd.
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New Zealand, Available at; , access date- 22.05.2010
- Paulin Horner, 1991, The Travel Industry in Britain, Cheltenham, Stanley Thrones.
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Rob Davidson, 1998, Travel and Tourism in Europe, 2nd Edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Limited.
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Shanghai, Available at; , access date- 22.05.2010
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Travelers’ choice of world destination, Avaliable at; , access date-21.05.2010
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Table 1,2 and 3, Available at; access date- 21.05.2010
