
Tourist Attractions HPR 3100 Introduction to Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation
Tourist Attractions • Main motivators for travel. • Generate income for tourism services. • Receives smallest percentage of tourist expenditures.
Cultural Attractions • Historical sites • Architectural sites • Food or Cuisine • Monuments • Industrial sites • Museums • Ethnic • Concerts • Theatre
Bukhara, Uzbekistan • Boasts architecture that span a thousand years of history. • Produced prominent scholars: e.g. Imam al Bukhari, Ibn Sina (Avicenna). • UNESCO World Heritage Site. • Its architecture and archaeological sites – one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art.
Kalyan Minaret, Bukhara • Built in 1127 by Qarakhanid ruler Arslan Khan. • 45.6 meters in height, narrowing upwards. 9 metres in diameter (bottom), 6 metres (overhead). • Impressed Genghis Khan.
Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt • The only remaining ‘Seven Wonders of the Ancient World’. • Constructed over a period of 20 years as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh, Khufu. Completed around 2560 BCE.
Louvre, Paris • Recently signed a US $240 million deal with UAE to create a Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi. • “The world’s favourite museum is learning the American art of mixing business with culture”.
Natural Attractions • Landscape • Seascape • Parks • Mountains • Flora & Fauna • Coasts • Islands
Recreation • Sight-seeing • Golf • Swimming • Tennis • Hiking • Biking • Snow sports
Snow Sports • Skiing and snowboarding – most popular activities. • Ski resorts have developed into major destination resorts because of consolidations. • Trend now to offer other activities (e.g. skating, snowmobiling, sledding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing etc.)
Entertainment Attractions • Theme Parks • Amusement Parks • Casinos • Shopping Facilities • Cinemas • Performing Arts Centre • Sports Complexes
Theme Parks • Big business – worldwide revenue forecasted to reach US $26 billion by 2009. • U.S. theme parks account for only 54% of worldwide revenue. • Asian market rapidly growing. • Theme parks likely to attract visitors on family vacations. • 25% of theme park visitors spend seven nights or more.
World’s Most Popular Amusement Parks Forbes Travel (2006)
#1 Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World (Florida) • 16.2 million visitors
#2 Tokyo Disneyland • 13 million visitors
#3 Disneyland Paris • 10.2 million visitors
#4 Everland Kyonggi-Do,South Korea • 7.5 million visitors
#5 Blackpool Pleasure Beach,England • 6 million visitors
#6 Tivoli GardensCopenhagen, Denmark • 4.1 million visitors
#7 Ocean Park,Hong Kong • 4 million visitors
#8 Europa-ParkRust, Germany • Just under 4 million visitors
#9 Paramount Canada’s Wonderland, Maple (Ontario) • 3.7 million visitors
#10 Port Aventura,Salou, Spain • 3.4 million visitors
Shopping • Number one activity for both international and domestic tourists. • Airports have virtually become shopping centres. • Hotel and resorts provide high quality gifts and souvenir shops, selling local handicrafts and artworks.
World’s largest shopping malls • Asia - home to nine of the world’s ten largest malls. • Some shopping malls have become ‘tourist destinations’ • World’s largest shopping malls in China – South China Mall (Dongguan) and Golden Reources Mall (Beijing).