TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

ADB Tourism Dr Trevor Sofield

Management 2017 Professor of Tourism
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
A SYSTEM CONSISTS OF:-

THE FRAMEWORK
(Structures)
CLOCKWORK

(Inter-action/ inter-relationships
between various individual
components of the structures)
Analogy with an organism in the
biological system

ATMOSPHERE Breeze CLIMATE

Carbon Dioxide Sunlight

Seasons
Oxygen HABITAT
Geographic Temperature
Birds location
Bees
Latitude Altitude Rainfall

Input-output
Nutrients
Nutrients energy
Worms
exchange
SOIL WATER
The Tourism Functioning System (Gunn, 1972)

DEMAND

SUPPLY
SUPPLY
ATTRACTIONS

PROMOTION TRANSPORTATION

INFORMATION SERVICES
The Basic Whole Tourism System (After Leiper, 1979)
(A Spatial Systems Model)

TRANSIT
REGION

TOURIST
TOURIST DESTINATION
GENERATING REGION
REGION

TRANSIT
REGION

B R O A D E R S O C I O- E C O N O M I C E N V I R O N M E N T
 The Tourism System (Mill & Morrison, 1992)

Market
A consumer behaviour approach to market
demand emphasizing both the external and
internal influences on travel including the
alternatives to travel, the market input of tourism
product/services suppliers, and the process by
which a buying decision is reached.
Marketing

An examination of the process by

Travel which the destination area and
A description and analysis individual suppliers market their
of major travel segments, products and services to potential
travel flows, and modes of customers with an emphasis on the
transportation used. effective use of distribution channels.

Destination
An identification of the procedures that
the destination area should follow to
research, plan, regulate, develop, and
provide service tourism activity.
A SYNTHESIS OF TOURISM
SYSTEM MODELS
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

Just as each of the noodles has mutli-faceted

contact with other strands of noodles, so the
tourism system consists of thousands of
different businesses, activities and ventures that
all inter-relate with each other in many different
ways.
Trying to unravel these interconnections is as
difficult as trying to identify each of the contacts
that every strand in this bowl of noodles has with
surrounding strands. But noodles are of course
static, not alive.
Tourism activities,businesses and components
by contrast are dynamic, and the relationships
between them are constantly changing!
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

In the presentation that follows I have separated

out the individual components and arranged them
in seven major themes. This separation will help
to provide clarity on the tourism system.
But it must be remembered that it is artificial: in
real life the components are not neatly
categorised. Instead they are like this bowl of
noodles all of a heap!!!!!
 TOURISM AS A
SYSTEM VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS DEMAND SIDE
FRONT LINE SECTOR
Seven Structures:
1. Visitor Generating SUPPORT
Regions (demand SERVICES COMMUNITY
side) SECTOR

2. The Destination
(supply side) DESTINATION TRANSIT
TRANSIT
- SUPPLY SIDE REGION
3. The Transit Region REGION
FRONT LINE
SECTOR
4. Support Services
Sector
BIO-PHYSICAL GOVERNMENT
5. Bio-physical ENVIRONMENT
Environment
6. Community
7. Government
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

SUPPORT
SERVICES COMMUNITY
SECTOR

TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT

REGION REGION
Frontline sector
businesses

BIO-PHYSICAL GOVERNMENT
ENVIRONMENT

The Clockwork
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

R
E
G
I
O
N
A
L
DESTINATION TRANSIT
TRANSIT
FRONT LINE REGION
REGION
SECTOR

INTERNATIONAL
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS (Demand side)

Market segmentation
a priori (commonsense) segmentation approaches
or
a posteriori (post hoc, data-driven) ((Dolnicar 2008)
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS
(Demand side)
Market segmentation

The Market is people

1. Domestic visitors/International visitors
2. Demographics
3. Segmentation by characteristics
4. By main purpose for trip
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS (Demand side)

Market segmentation
1. Domestic/International
Very different markets with very different:-
spending power;
propensity to travel;
motivation for travel;
interests and destinations/attractions;
requiring a wide range of different
facilities
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS (Demand side)

Market segmentation
1. Domestic/International
TOURIST (DOMESTIC)
Any person who travels away from their normal
residence to visit other places [at least 40 kms
distant] within their own home for a period of at
least one night but not exceeding [12] months
for recreational purposes

Overnight accommodation is a key component of the definition of a tourist

 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

(Demand side)
TOURIST (INTERNATIONAL)
Any person who visits a country other
than the one in which he or she lives,
i.e. crosses an international border, as a
temporary visitor staying at least 24
hours and less than one year whose
purpose for the journey can be
classified as either for leisure or
recreation.
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS
(Demand side)

Age
2. DEMOGRAPHICS Gender
Analysis of national Spending power
population census from Level of education
source market countries
Employment classifications
Family composition, etc.
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING
REGION
3. SEGMENTATION BY CHARACTERISTICS
Baby Boomers
Empty Nesters
GenY
COO
Grey nomads
WWOOFers
O.L.s
Extreme Adventure
Sports
Snow Geese
Gap Year
Globetrotters
VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS (Demand side)

Market segmentation

4. BY MAIN PURPOSE OF VISIT

Holiday/recreation
(the original meaning
of holiday = holy day).
Holiday
Business
Education
Religion
(pilgrimage)
Sport
Conference
Visiting Friends
& Relatives
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM THE TRANSIT
REGION AND MODES OF TRANSPORT

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS R

E
G
I
O
N
A
L

DESTINATION TRANSIT
TRANSIT
FRONT LINE REGION
REGION
SECTOR

INTERNATIONAL
 AIR
TRANSIT REGION (Supply
side)

Major modes of transport take

visitors through the transit
region to their destination
The transport system is the
combination of land use and
its multi-faceted inter-
relationships with modes of
transport (mainly road, air, rail, RAIL
and sea);

What is a hovercraft??? SEA

 TRANSIT REGION (Supply side)
Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok
Supported by a host of transport-specific
infrastructure and facilities airports,
railway stations, road networks, ports.
Fuel depots, engineering and repair
facilities, etc.

With a range of ancillary services and

facilities:- restaurants, banks,
accommodation, communications, retail Beijing Railway Station
shops, bookshops, bars, etc.
Cruise ship port, Australia
TRANSIT REGION (Supply side) Cheung Ek Memorial road, Cambodia

BEFORE ......
TRANSIT REGION (Supply side) Cheung Ek Memorial road, Cambodia

AFTER ......
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
The Destination
VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS R
E
G
I
O
N
A
L

DESTINATION TRANSIT
TRANSIT
FRONT LINE REGION
REGION
SECTOR

INTERNATIONAL
 THE DESTINATION (Supply side)
The Frontline Industries Sector
Businesses operating directly with visitors
(The Five As)
1. Accommodation - hotels, motels, resorts, backpacker hostels, B&B,
caravan parks, glamping, etc
2. Amenities - restaurants, sports facilities, theatres, casinos, etc
3. Attractions (natural and cultural, cities, landscapes, theme parks,
museums, events and festivals, shopping malls, etc).
4. Access: -around the destination: Travel agencies; Transport - Airlines,
coaches, tour operators, trains, cruise ships, taxis, hire cars
5. Activities - tour operators, ski fields companies, yacht charters, wild-
life safaris, bicycle hire, kayaking adventure companies, camping
abseiling, Himalayan trekking companies, shopping etc.
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

SUPPORT
SERVICES
SECTOR

TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT

REGION FRONT LINE REGION
SECTOR
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Support Industries and Services Sector Backward and
forward linkages from Businesses providing goods and
services to the frontline operators in both the Visitor
Generating Regions and the Destinations

A: Architects, Accountants,
Airports, Advertising Agencies
B: Beverages, Breweries, Banks
C: Credit card agencies, Carriers,
Cleaning Chemicals
D: Drainage systems, Decorators
E: Engineers, Electricians,
Environmental consultants
F: Florists, Furniture, Fabrics
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Support Industries and Services Sector
\. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

V: Veterinarians, Valuers, Videos

W: Wineries, Welders, Wool
products
X: Xray security equipment
Y: Yacht builders, Yarns
Z: Zinc products, Zincalume
roofing

Give me three industries starting

with the letter P
And three with the letter U
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

BIO-PHYSICAL
SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT
SERVICES
SECTOR

TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT

REGION FRONT LINE REGION
SECTOR
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Geo/Bio-physical Environment
Air, Water, Soil
Effects of tourism on Flora, Fauna, habitats
Natural landscapes, Wilderness
Protected Areas (and management)
World Heritage Sites, National Parks
State forests, Reserves
City Parks, Botanical Gardens
Aquariums, Zoos
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Geo/Bio-physical Environment
Geo/Bio-physical Environment
TYPES
TYPESOF TOURISM
OFTOURISM
Ecotourism
Ecotourismandand
nature
naturebased
basedtourism
tourism
Adventure
Adventuretourism
tourism
Wildlife
Wildlifetourism
tourism
Safari
Safaritourism
tourism
Birdwatching
Birdwatchingtourism
tourism
Whale
Whalewatching
watching
Speleology
Speleology(cave
(cave
exploration)
exploration)

CLIMATE
CLIMATECHANGE
CHANGEasas
the
themajor
majoremerging
emergingissue
issue
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

BIO-PHYSICAL
SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT
SERVICES
SECTOR

TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT

REGION FRONT LINE REGION
SECTOR

COMMUNITY
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Host Communities
Residents, rate payers, families,
individuals, community organizations,
indigenous minorities

Community based tourism

The role of NGOs
and networking
Social Effects
Cultural Effects

Womens Group Forest

Caf, Chambok
Community Ecotourism,
Cambodia,supported by
local NGO, Mlop
Baitong
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Host Communities
Residents, rate payers, families,
individuals, community organizations,
indigenous minorities

Community infrastructure
Cultural landscapes
The role of traditional knowledge
Training and up-skilling
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM Plain of Jars, Lao PDR

Host Communities
Cultural landscapes

Banaue rice terraces,

Banaue rice(WHS)
Philippines terraces,
WHS, Philippines

Vineyards of Tuscany, Italy Ancient cave city, Zelve, WHS Turkey

 Rapanui, Easter Island

The community of Hanga Roa, the only settlement on the island

TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Host Communities
Cultural landscapes

Long Ji rice terraces outside Guilin, China

Host Communities Cultural & Natural Heritage
Tourism can provide incentives and funds for natural,
cultural and historical resources to be managed in a more
sustainable manner.
The fact that tourists value them and are willing to pay to visit them
provides motivation for communitie) to engage in sustainable
management that will also benefit residents in future (Spencely,
Ashley & de Kok, ITC, 2009) e.g. gorilla conservation, Rwanda; coral
reef and marine life protection, Andaman Coast, Thailand.
Turtle Haadyo Homestay, Trang Province,
Volcano National conservation, Moso Thailand: dugong conservation
Park, Rwanda Is. community,
Vanuatu
TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
GOVERNMENT

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

BIO-PHYSICAL
SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT
SERVICES
SECTOR

TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT

REGION FRONT LINE
REGION
SECTOR

COMMUNITY
GOVERNMENT

Philippines
Assembly
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
Government - the Coordination Sector

Policy, Strategy & Planning

Regulatory Controls, Policy Formulation,
National Issues and Interests, Planning,
GMS
Project
Infrastructure
Regulatory - licensing laws, business
in the
2007, Cambodia
registration, taxation, building codes, safety
Development

regulations, etc
Management

Policy - Economic, Tourism, Transport,

- JulyTourism

Foreign Affairs, \Regional Development, Sport &

Recreation, Telecommunications.
Tourism
Course:

The Environment - legislation, national parks,

Tourism

biosphere reserves, world heritage sites, etc.

Mekong
June

International Treaties - visas, trade, bilateral air

Short

services, anti-terrorist treaties, WHS, etc.

 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

The Coordination Sector (Government)

Regulatory Controls, Policy Formulation, National
Issues and Interests, Planning, Infrastructure
Law & Order - security of visitors, Police,
Customs, Immigration, anti-terrorist
strategy, etc.
Infrastructure roads, railways, airports,
water, power, ports, communications
systems, etc.
Partnerships with the private sector (e.g.
toll roads)
 THE COORDINATION SECTOR (GOVERNMENT)
It is this structure of the tourism system the Government - which links all of
this together.
1. The government identifies a need for a policy to manage a particular issue;
2. It then passes a law to support the policy (enabling legislation); and
3. bureaucrats (civil servants) in ministries or technical agencies then develop
the regulations by which they administer the law.
4. In many governments around the world, most ministries and government
agencies will have some form of interest in tourism and be involved in
policy formulation and enabling legislation, with follow-on bureaucratic
responsibilities
 Analogy with an organism in the biological system
Remove any one structure from the framework - and
the plant dies.

ATMOSPHERE
Carbon Dioxide
CLIMATE

Oxygen HABITAT
Geographic
Birds location
Bees
Latitude Altitude Rainfall
Input-
output
Nutrients energy
Nutrients exchange
Worms
SOIL WATER
REMOVE ANY ONE PART OF THE TOURISM FRAMEWORK
AND TOURISM CANNOT EXIST!

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS DEMAND SIDE

REMOVE, for
FRONT LINE SECTOR
example,
GOVERNMENT,
BIO-PHYSICAL
SUPPORT
SUPPORT or the
ENVIRONMENT
SERVICES
SERVICES SUPPORT
SECTOR
SECTOR SERVICES
SECTOR,
or
TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT TRANSPORT
DESTINATION
REGION -- SUPPLY
SUPPLY SIDE
SIDE REGION And -
FRONT LINE
LINE
FRONT
SECTOR
TOURISM
SECTOR
COLLAPSES

BIO-PHYSICAL
BIO-PHYSICAL GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
REMOVE ANY ONE PART OF THE TOURISM FRAMEWORK
AND TOURISM CANNOT EXIST!

VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS DEMAND SIDE

REMOVE, for
FRONT LINE SECTOR
example,
GOVERNMENT,
BIO-PHYSICAL
SUPPORT
SUPPORT or the
ENVIRONMENT
SERVICES
SERVICES SUPPORT
SECTOR
SECTOR SERVICES
SECTOR,
or
TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT TRANSPORT
DESTINATION
REGION -- SUPPLY
SUPPLY SIDE
SIDE REGION And -
FRONT LINE
LINE
FRONT
SECTOR
TOURISM
SECTOR
COLLAPSES

BIO-PHYSICAL
BIO-PHYSICAL GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM
While this presentation has separated out all of the different elements of
each structure (the framework), it is necessary to remember that there
are thousands of interrelationships (the clockwork) which combine in a
dynamic way to constitute tourism as a system.
VISITOR GENERATING REGIONS

SUPPORT
SERVICES COMMUNITY
SECTOR

TRANSIT DESTINATION TRANSIT

REGION REGION
Frontline sector
businesses

BIO-PHYSICAL GOVERNMENT
ENVIRONMENT
 TOURISM AS A SYSTEM

And that
is why -
END