Other researchers are considering issues of access to tourism transport and inequality. Tourism is dependent on transport to facilitate experiences. As such, tourism becomes unavailable to populations without ready access to or the ability to pay for transportation—lower-income groups in inner-city areas, remote rural areas, or developing countries. Tourism transport can become a symbol of inequality and a means of segregating tourists from residents. For example, the modes used for tourists are typically modern, safe, and comfortable, whereas the public transportation used by residents may be old, deficient, and overcrowded. Tourist transport does not generally serve the needs of residents and may, in fact, be off-limits to them.
Finally, a significant new direction in research focuses on the environmental impacts of tourism transport, management policies, the adaptations to and potential effects of regulations, and attempts to change patterns of tourist behavior. Some of these issues will be discussed further in chapter 10, “The Environmental Geography of Tourism.”
Conclusion
Transport is a fundamental component in tourism, as it facilitates the movement of tourists from their place of origin to their destination. Transportation systems were a precondition for tourism, and new innovations helped usher in several key eras in tourism. In particular, transport was one of the factors in the development of modern mass tourism, which allows more people—in more parts of the world—to travel than ever before. At the same time, transportation can distinctly shape the tourism experience. As transport geography provides the means of exploring the spatial patterns of movement and the geographic factors that allow or constrain this movement, we can apply the concepts of this topical branch to contribute to our understanding of the role transport plays in tourism.
Key Terms
circular itinerary
complementarity
distance decay
hub-and-spoke itinerary
interchange
point-to-point itinerary
terminal
tourism itinerary
transport geography
transportation mode
transportation network
transportation node
Notes
1. Bruce Prideaux, “The Role of the Transport System in Destination Development,” Tourism Management 21 (2000): 54.
2. David J. Keeling, “Transportation Geography: New Directions on Well-Worn Trails,” Progress in Human Geography 31 (2007): 221.
3. Stephen Page, Transport and Tourism: Global Perspectives, 2nd ed. (Harlow, UK: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005), 34.
4. Alan Lew and Bob McKercher, “Modeling Tourist Movements: A Local Destination Analysis,” Annals of Tourism Research 33 (2006): 405.
5. Jack Simmons, “Railways, Hotels, and Tourism in Great Britain, 1839–1914,” Journal of Contemporary History 19 (1984): 207.
6. Charles R. Goeldner and J. R. Brent Ritchie, Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies, 9th ed. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2006), 56.
7. Simon M. Kevan, “Quests for Cures: A History of Tourism for Climate and Health,” International Journal of Biometeorology 37 (1993): 118.
8. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Claude Comtois, and Brian Slack, The Geography of Transport Systems, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2009), 5, accessed February 10, 2011, http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans.
9. Rodrigue, Comtois, and Slack, The Geography of Transport Systems.
10. Rodrigue, Comtois, and Slack, The Geography of Transport Systems.
11. Lew and McKercher, “Modeling Tourist Movements,” 407.
12. Tourism Ireland, “Shannon—Clare County,” accessed March 2, 2011, http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-places-to-go/placefinder/s/shannon-clare/.
13. Bob McKercher and Alan A. Lew, “Tourist Flows and the Spatial Distribution of Tourists,” in A Companion to Tourism, ed. Alan A. Lew, C. Michael Hall, and Allan M. Williams (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004), 40–42.
14. Lew and McKercher, “Modeling Tourist Movements,” 420.
15. Derek R. Hall, “Conceptualising Tourism Transport: Inequality and Externality Issues,” Journal of Transport Geography 7 (1999): 182.
16. Les Lumsdon and Stephen J. Page, “Progress in Transport and Tourism Research: Reformulating the Transport-Tourism Interface and Future Research Agendas,” in Tourism and Transport: Issues and Agenda for the New Millennium, ed. Les Lumsdon and Stephen J. Page (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2004), 11–12.
Sources
Albalate, Daniel, and Germà Bel. “Tourism and Urban Public Transport: Holding Demand Pressure under Supply Constraints.” Tourism Management 31 (2010): 425–33.
Dickinson, Janet E., and Derek Robbins. “Representations of Tourism Transport Problems in a Rural Destination.” Tourism Management 29 (2008): 1110–1121.
Duval, David Timothy. Tourism and Transport: Modes, Networks, and Flows. Clevedon, UK: Channel View Publications, 2007.
Hall, Derek R. “Conceptualising Tourism Transport: Inequality and Externality Issues.” Journal of Transport Geography 7 (1999): 181–88.
Henderson, Joan. “Transport and Tourism Destination Development: An Indonesian Perspective.” Tourism and Hospitality Research 9, no. 3 (2009): 199–208.
Khadaroo, Jameel, and Boopen Seetanah. “The Role of Transport Infrastructure in International Tourism Development: A Gravity Model Approach.” Tourism Management 29 (2008): 831–40.
Lew, Alan, and Bob McKercher. “Modeling Tourist Movements: A Local Destination Analysis.” Annals of Tourism Research 33 (2006): 403–23.
Löfgren, Orvar. On Holiday: A History of Vacationing. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
McKercher, Bob, and Alan A. Lew. “Tourist Flows and the Spatial Distribution of Tourists.” In A Companion to Tourism, edited by Alan A. Lew, C. Michael Hall, and Allan M. Williams, 36–48. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.
Page, Stephen. “Transport and Tourism.” In A Companion to Tourism, edited by Alan A. Lew, C. Michael Hall, and Allan M. Williams, 146–58. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.
———. Transport and Tourism: Global Perspectives, 2nd ed. Harlow, UK: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.
Prideaux, Bruce. “Links between Transport and Tourism—Past, Present, and Future.” In Tourism in the Twenty-First Century: Reflections on Experience, edited by Bill Faulkner, Gianna Moscardo, and Eric Laws, 91–109. London: Continuum, 2001.
———. “The Role of the Transport System in Destination Development.” Tourism Management 21 (2000): 53–63.
Reilly, Jennifer, Peter Williams, and Wolfgang Haider. “Moving towards More Eco-Efficient Tourist Transportation to a Resort Destination: The Case of Whistler, British Columbia.” Research in Transportation Economics 26 (2010): 66–73.
Rodrigue, Jean-Paul, Claude Comtois, and Brian Slack. The Geography of Transport Systems. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2009. Accessed February 10, 2011. http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans.
Shaffer, Marguerite. See America First: Tourism and National Identity, 1880–1940. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.
Shaw, Gareth, and Allan M. Williams. Critical Issues in Tourism: A Geographical Perspective. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.
Simmons, Jack. “Railways, Hotels, and Tourism in Great Britain, 1839–1914.” Journal of Contemporary History 19 (1984): 201–22.
Towner, John. “The Grand Tour: A Key Phase in the History of Tourism.” Annals of Tourism Research 12 (1985): 297–333.
Williams, Stephen. Tourism Geography. London: Routledge, 1998.
Chapter 6
The Physical Geography of Tourism: Resources and Barriers
As tourists, we routinely evaluate the physical geography of potential destinations. From this perspective, it isn’t important that we understand the science behind how or why a place is shaped by the earth’s physical processes. Rather, we simply need to know enough to determine if a place has the physical setting we’re looking for, if its physical conditions will provide us with the opportunity to participate in the acti
vities we want, or if its conditions might keep us from doing those things. Armed with a little knowledge about the patterns of a place, we can try to make informed decisions about where to go as well as when. This same knowledge is also needed by stakeholders at both emerging and existing destinations to assess (and reassess) the physical resources for tourism in that place. However, for these stakeholders, it may be more important that they have some understanding of physical geography, especially when it comes to negotiating the physical barriers to tourism in that place.
Because tourism is a human phenomenon, greater emphasis is placed on examining tourism through the topical branches of human geography. Nonetheless, it is still important to consider the physical side of geography. Physical geography is the subdivision of geography that studies the earth’s physical systems. As in human geography, physical geography is further organized into topical branches, including meteorology and climatology, hydrology and oceanography, geomorphology, and biogeography. This chapter introduces each of these topical branches and examines how the elements in the earth’s physical system affect tourism, either as a resource that provides the basis for tourism or as a barrier that prevents tourism. In addition, it considers how global environmental change is also affecting patterns of tourism. First, however, we will discuss the concept of resources as applied in the context of tourism.
Resources, Barriers, and the Tourism Resource Audit
In general terms, resources refer to some type of product that is perceived to have value and may be used to satisfy human needs and/or wants. Geographic research on resources recognizes that these products are relative and subjective. This means that what is considered a resource depends on the cultural, political, economic, and/or technological circumstances of a society at a given point in time. Consequently, something that might be considered a resource for one group of people might not be for another due to different cultural values, political priorities, economic conditions, or levels of technology. Likewise, what is considered a resource in one time period might not be in another due to changes in all of these factors. While resources may be human or cultural, we typically think of physical or natural resources that are elements in the earth system. The availability of these resources is dependent on physical processes but also human efforts.
Applied to the context of tourism geography, tourism resources are those components of a destination’s environment (physical or human) that have the potential to facilitate tourism or provide the basis for tourism attractions. Physical tourism resources are considered to be “an invaluable tourism asset and . . . fundamental to the development of tourism for virtually all destinations. They tend to be the foundation from which other resources are developed, and thus often play both a principal and key supporting role in tourism.”1 Moreover, tourism activities are contingent on not one but a combination of resources. These resources may be readily available tangible features in the geography of a place, but for many resources, destinations must still develop them to be used in tourism. This is based on the goals and values of the target tourist market to meet their demands and create that complementarity between places discussed in chapter 5.
Whereas the presence of resources can allow a destination to develop, the presence of barriers can prevent it. A barrier refers to something material in the environment that constitutes a physical impediment or something immaterial that creates a logistical or perceptual impediment. As with resources, what is considered a barrier—and the extent to which it functions as a one—varies with different cultural norms, political policies, economic circumstances, or technological advancement. Elements in the earth-ocean-atmosphere system can present distinct physical barriers, but they also have the potential to become perceptual barriers as well.
In tourism, both physical and perceptual barriers may prevent tourists from visiting certain destinations. Additionally, these barriers have the potential to shape the ways in which destinations develop. Thus, a destination needs to evaluate its physical geography not only for potential resources but also for any barriers and to find ways of overcoming them—whether it is grading the landscape, installing artificial snowmakers, or convincing potential tourists that the weather’s really not as bad as they think it’s going to be.
Tourism stakeholders, especially those at emerging destinations, frequently fail to fully understand the conditions of their own resource base. With economic benefit as the goal, stakeholders may take shortcuts in the development process. They may choose to model their industry on that of a successful destination, even though circumstances are different for each place. They may conduct only a superficial analysis of the area’s resources, or they may simply assume that they already have all of the information they need. Yet, it’s never that simple. Some resources are attractions in themselves; these are the ones that are often easy to spot (e.g., Mount Everest). Others, however, simply provide the framework that allows for tourism. It can be much more difficult to understand how the quality, quantity, distribution, accessibility, seasonality, and so forth of these resources are going to affect tourism in that place.
The tourism resource audit (TRA) is a tool that can be used by destination stakeholders to systematically identify, classify, and assess all of the features of a place that will impact the supply of tourism. Because resources are subjective, however, this can be tricky. Typically, a range of stakeholders, coming from different perspectives, should be involved to create the most comprehensive and appropriate dataset. This will include experts to provide scientific data and analysis, community members to contribute local knowledge, industry analysts to assess market potential, and even tourists to offer the demand-side perspective. A variety of strategies can be used to create an exhaustive list of resources that are critically evaluated to understand how they might affect tourism. In recent years, geographic information systems (GIS) have been used to manage the often large datasets created by a TRA. Analysis of this data allows stakeholders to determine the strengths and weaknesses of tourism at the destination, improvements that need to be made, and strategies that should be put in place for both immediate and long-term development.
Although this process is, perhaps, less exciting than other aspects of tourism development and promotion, it is fundamental. According to the authors of The Tourism Development Handbook, “The effort put in at this stage should be well rewarded later on with the development of a more successful and sustainable tourism destination.”2 Still, a TRA only captures the condition of resources at a given time. Resources, and what are considered resources, are not static. Consequently, the TRA database should be updated regularly, and tourism strategies reevaluated accordingly.
The Physical System, Physical Geography, and Tourism
A system is defined as an interrelated set of things that are linked by flows of energy and matter and are distinct from that which is outside the system. This is an important organizing concept in physical geography, as the earth is made up of interrelated physical systems, including the abiotic systems (i.e., the overlapping, nonliving systems consisting of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere) that provide the basis for the biotic system (i.e., the living system made up of the biosphere). Specifically, the atmosphere is the thin, gaseous layer surrounding the earth’s surface. The hydrosphere encompasses the waters that exist in the atmosphere, on the earth’s surface, and in the crust near the surface. The lithosphere includes the solid part of the earth. Finally, these three spheres form the basis for the biosphere, which is the area where living organisms can exist.
Each of these spheres can be studied through different but ultimately interrelated topical branches in geography, including meteorology and climatology (atmosphere), hydrology and oceanography (hydrosphere), geomorphology (lithosphere), and biogeography (biosphere). Table 6.1 provides a summary of the resources and barriers associated with each of these branches of physical geography, and the issues are discussed below. In the past, there have been fewer links between tourism and these
topical branches of geography, in comparison with those on the human side of geography. Nonetheless, physical geography plays a crucial role in our understanding of the earth and our place in it, and geographers recognize that these physical systems have distinct impacts on all aspects of human life. Thus, there is clear potential for greater research connecting physical geography and tourism geography.
Meteorology, Climatology, and Tourism
While it may seem like the atmosphere is beyond the scope of geography, it is still an integral part in the earth system. Not only do atmospheric processes affect what happens in other spheres, these phenomena also affect human life every day. Geographers are interested in both weather and climate to understand how patterns vary from place to place, how they shape those places, and how they affect human activities on the earth’s surface. Meteorology and climatology are interrelated atmospheric sciences. Meteorology is the study of weather, which refers to the atmospheric conditions (e.g., air temperature and pressure, humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, cloud cover and type, etc.) for a given place and time. Because these conditions are dynamic, in an almost constant state of change, there is a distinct focus on short-term patterns. Climatology is the study of climate, which refers to the aggregate of weather conditions for a given place over time. Climatology expands upon meteorology by considering longer-term trends, making generalizations about average weather conditions, and identifying variations or extremes.
In one introduction to physical geography, the distinction between weather and climate is bluntly put in this way: the idea of a place’s climate is what attracts people to that place, but it is the reality of day-to-day weather conditions that makes them leave.3 While overly simplistic, this does raise an important consideration for the demand perspective in the geography of tourism. Tourists depend on information about the climate of a destination to try to make an informed decision about whether or not that place generally has the right conditions for the desired tourism activities at the time of year in which they intend to visit. Yet, climate data does not predict specific weather conditions. Forecasts become increasingly unreliable beyond just a few days, and most trips will be planned well in advance of that. Consequently, tourists may find that the actual weather conditions at the destination during their vacation aren’t what they expected. This can be simply an inconvenience or prompt small changes in their plans, but it can also fundamentally alter or even cancel a trip.
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