Destination managers, as stated earlier, should compile an inventory of their tourism attractions as a prerequisite for the effective management of their tourism sector. It is not sufficient, however, just to list and categorise the attractions. Managers must also periodically assess their status across an array of relevant attraction attributes to inform appropriate planning and management decisions (see figure 5.3). A spectrum is used in each case to reflect the continuous nature of these variables. Each of the attrac- tion attributes will now be considered, with no order of importance implied by the sequence of presentation. Image is an important attraction attribute, but is addressed elsewhere in the text in some detail (see chapters 4 and 7).
ownership
The ownership of an attraction significantly affects the planning and management pro- cess. For example, the public ownership of Lamington National Park, in the Gold Coast hinterland, implies the injection of public rather than private funding, a high level of government decision-making discretion and the assignment of a higher priority to environmental and social impacts over profit generation. Public ownership also sug- gests an extensive regulatory environment and long-term, as opposed to shorter-term, planning horizons. It is for this reason that researchers differentiate between public and private protected areas, with the latter becoming increasingly important as vehi- cles for conservation and recreation as funding for public entities continues to stagnate (Buckley 2009).
orientation
An emphasis on profitability is affiliated with, but not identical to, private sector own- ership. Revenue-starved governments may place more stress on profit generation, which in turn modifies many management assumptions and actions with respect to the attractions they control. Among the possible implications of a profit reorien- tation in a national park are the introduction of higher user fees, an easing of visitor quotas, greater emphasis on visitor satisfaction, outsourcing of basic management and
maintenance tasks, and increased latitude for the operation of private concessions. The national park, in essence, becomes a ‘business’ and its visitors ‘customers’ who must be satisfied.
Public Ownership Private
Non-profit Orientation Profit
Nodal Spatial configuration Areal
Genuine Authenticity Imitation
Unique Scarcity (international, national, regional) Ubiquitous Primary
(Iconic) Status Secondary
Low Carrying capacity High
Accessible Accessibility (spatial, temporal, financial (price)) Almost inaccessible
Niche Inclusive
All tourist Mostly local
Market
Unfamiliar Familiar
Negative Positive
Compatible Incompatible
Image (tourist or resident)
Context
FIgURe 5.3 Tourist attraction attributes
spatial configuration
Geographical shape and size have important managerial implications. Spatially exten- sive linear SRAs such as the Appalachian Trail (United States), for example, may cross a large number of political jurisdictions, each of them having some influence there- fore over the management of the trail. In addition, long-distance walking trails in particular pass through privately owned land for much of their length, which renders them susceptible to relocation if some landowners decide that they no longer want the trail to pass through their property because of security, liability or vandalism con- cerns. In the United Kingdom, the status of public walking trails on private property has become a highly contentious and politically charged issue. Linear SRAs are also likely to share extensive borders with adjacent land uses — such as forestry, military bases and mining — that may not be compatible with tourism or recreation. There is potential for conflict and dissatisfaction from the fact that these trails, roads and bike- ways rely to a large extent on the scenic resources of these adjacent landscapes, yet the latter are vulnerable to modification by forces over which the attraction manager has no control. Planting vegetation to hide these uncomplementary modifications may be the only practical management option under such circumstances.
In contrast, a circular or square site (e.g. some national parks) reduces the length of the attraction’s boundary and thus the potential for conflict with adjacent land uses.
This also has practical implications in matters such as the length of boundary that must be fenced or patrolled. The classification of a site often depends on the scale of investigation. For example, a regional strategy for south-east Queensland would regard Dreamworld as an internally undifferentiated ‘node’ or ‘point’, whereas a site-specific master plan would regard the same attraction as an internally differentiated ‘area’.
authenticity
Whereas ownership, orientation and spatial configuration are relatively straight- forward, ‘authenticity’ is a highly ambiguous and contentious attribute that has long been the subject of academic attention (Cohen & Cohen 2012). An exhaustive dis- cussion is beyond the scope of this book, but it suffices to say that authenticity is concerned with how ‘genuine’ an attraction is as opposed to imitative or contrived.
This is not to say, however, that contrivance is necessarily a negative characteristic.
For example, the 40 000-year-old Neolithic cave paintings at Lascaux (France) were so threatened by the perspiration and respiration of tourists that an almost exact replica was constructed nearby for viewing purposes. Whether the replica is seen in a positive or negative light depends on how it is presented and interpreted; if the tourist is made aware that it is an imitation, and that it is provided as part of the effort to preserve the original while still providing a high quality educational experience, then the copy may be perceived in a very positive light. Similarly, the mega-casinos of Las Vegas offer a contrived experience, but this is not usually problematic since patrons recognise that contrivance and fantasy are central elements of their Vegas tourist experience (see chapter 9).
The issue of authenticity is associated with sense of place, an increasingly popular management concept defined as the mix of natural and cultural characteristics that dis- tinguishes a particular destination from all other destinations, and hence positions it as ‘unique’ along the scarcity spectrum. Sense of place is strongly associated with place attachment and place loyalty behaviour (e.g. repeat visitation) in diverse settings — for example, South Australian dive sites (Moskwa 2012).
scarcity
An important management implication of scarcity is that a very rare or unique attrac- tion is likely to be both highly vulnerable and highly alluring to tourists as a conse- quence of its scarcity, assuming that it also has innate attractiveness. At the other end of the spectrum are ubiquitous attractions such as golf courses or theme parks; that is, those that are found or can be established almost anywhere.
status
A useful distinction can be made between primary or iconic attractions and secon- dary attractions, which tourists are likely to visit once they have already been drawn to a destination by the primary attraction. A destination may have more than one primary attraction, as with the Eiffel Tower and Louvre in Paris, or the Opera House and harbour in Sydney. One potential disadvantage of iconic attractions is their power to stereotype entire destinations (e.g. the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Swiss Alp villages, the Pyramids of Egypt, or the Great Wall of China). Another potential dis- advantage is the negative publicity and loss of visitation that may occur if an iconic attraction is lost due to fire, natural forces or other factors, prompting managers in some cases to try to resurrect such sites as ‘residual attractions’ focused, for example, on commemorations, re-creations, a dedicated museum, or a memorial trail (Weaver &
Lawton 2007).
carrying capacity
Carrying capacity is difficult to measure since it is not a fixed quality. A national park may have a low visitor carrying capacity in the absence of tourism-related services, but a high visitor carrying capacity once a dirt trail has been paved with cobblestones and biological toilets installed to centralise and treat tourist wastes. In such instances of site hardening, managers must be careful to ensure that the remedial actions them- selves do not pose a threat to the site or to the carrying capacity of affiliated resources such as wildlife (see chapters 9 and 11). It is crucial that managers have an idea of an attraction’s carrying capacity at all times, so that, depending on the circumstances, appropriate measures can be taken to either increase this capacity or reduce the stress so that the existing carrying capacity is not exceeded.
accessibility
Accessibility can be measured variably in terms of space, time and affordability. Spatial access only by a single road will have the positive effect of facilitating entry control, but the negative effects of creating potential bottlenecks and isolating the site in the event of a flood or earthquake. Another dimension of spatial accessibility is how well an attraction is identified on roadmaps and in road signage. Temporal accessibility can be seasonal (e.g. an area closed by winter snowfalls) or assessed on a daily or weekly basis (hours and days of operation). Affordability is important in determining likely markets and visitation levels. All three dimensions should be assessed continually as aspects of an attraction that can be manipulated as part of an effective management strategy.
market
Destination and attraction markets often vary depending on the season, time of day, cost and other factors. One relevant dimension is whether the attraction appeals to the broad tourism market, as theme parks such as Disney World attempt to do, or to a par- ticular segment of the market, as with battle re-enactments or hunting (see chapter 6).
This dictates the type of marketing approach that would be most appropriate (see chapter 7). A second dimension identifies sites and events that are almost exclusively tourist-oriented, as opposed to those that attract mostly local residents. Because of the tendency of clientele to be mixed to a greater or lesser extent, the all-encompassing term ‘visitor attraction’ is often used in preference to the term ‘tourist attraction’. Posi- tive and negative impacts can be associated with both tourist-dominant and resident- dominant attractions. For instance, an exclusively tourist-oriented site may generate local resentment but contain negative impacts to the site itself. The mixing of tourists and locals in some circumstances can increase the probability of cultural conflict, but can also provide tourists with authentic exposure to local lifestyles and opportunities to make new friends (chapter 9).
context
Context describes the characteristics of the space and time that surround the rel- evant site or event and, as such, is an attribute that considers the actual and potential impacts of external systems. An example of a compatible external influence is a des- ignated municipal conservation area that serves as a buffer zone surrounding a more environmentally sensitive national park. An incompatible use might be houses hosting domestic pets and exotic plants that may undermine native biodiversity in an adjacent park. The influence of temporal context is demonstrated by a large sporting event that
is held shortly after a similar event in another city, which could either stimulate or depress public interest depending on the circumstances.
T H e T O U R I S M I N D U S T RY
The tourism industry, as described in chapter 2, includes the businesses that pro- vide goods and services wholly or mainly for tourist consumption. Some but not all attractions belong to the tourism industry (or industries). It is worth reiterating that some aspects of the tourism industry are relatively straightforward (e.g. accommo- dation and travel agencies), but others (e.g. transportation and restaurants) are more difficult to differentiate into their tourism and nontourism components. In addition, commercial activities such as cruise ships and integrated resorts do not readily allow for the isolation of accommodation, transportation, food and beverages, and shopping as distinct components since they usually provide all of these in a single packaged arrangement.