Destination Factors

Attractions

Attractions are features or quality of a place that makes it a place that appeals to tourist. Attractions can be natural or man-made. An example of natural attractions are places of scenic beauty; an example of man-made attractions are architectures

Example, Dubai has become a major destination and stopover location between Europe and Asia. According to Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, more than 9 million tourist went to Dubai in 2011. Dubai's wide range of retail and luxury outlet, world-class MICE facilities, luxury hotels and large-scale architecture and engineering projects had attracted many tourist annually. Dubai's most well-known mam-made attractions includes the Palm Island, the world largest man-made island.

 

Investment in Infrastructure and Services

Tourist attractions need large investment in infrastructure and services. Infrastructures are the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. Services is a system supplying a public need. Airport expansion is a type of transport infrastructure essential for tourism. This is because the airport needs to manage the growth in air traffic; if the airport cannot manage the growth of air traffic, lesser tourist would come. For short-haul destinations, the country needs to build roads or railways to connect the country with the destinations.

Example, Changi Airport Budget Terminal was closed down in September 2012 in order to make way for the construction of Terminal 4, projected to be completed in 2017.  The new Terminal 4 would increase the airport's total capacity to 85 million passengers per year; in 2013, the airport's total capacity is 73 million.

Another type of infrastructure essential for tourism is accommodation. Sufficient amount of hotels should be built in order to accommodate the total tourist. Accommodation should vary from 5-star hotels to backpacker hostels or homestays.

Example, in Hong Kong, according to the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development in February 2012, 49 more hotels would be built in between 2012 and 2016. This would allow the city to accommodate more tourist, from 42 million per year to 70 million per year. 

 

Access to Information

Access to information is the ease in which information about the destination can be obtained. More tourist would visit a place when information about the place, such as transportation, weather conditions, accommodations etc., are easily obtained. Information should also be displayed in many different languages, as tourist only want to access to information in languages they can understand. Local tour guides and travel agents should also be taught on information about the place, such as the geography, history, culture of the place etc., so that the tourist's experience can be enhanced

Example, in Thailand, a sign which write about the security of Thailand is displayed in Thai and English. The sign about the security assures the tourists about the people they can seek for help when they face problems.

 



Demand Factors

Disposable Income

Disposable income is the amount of money a person has left after paying expenses and taxes. It is also the amount of income left available for spending or saving. The growth in the global economy had led to the growth in income which had let people have more disposable income to spend. The spending can include for tourism purposes.

Example, the economy of countries like China and India had grown rapidly. People in the middle income and high income group has more disposable income, and some of them spent their income on tourism.

 

Leisure Time

Leisure time is a period of time where people have free time and can relax. Leisure time usually come in the form of paid leave, where the person is allowed away from work, for the middle income groups and the high income groups. Since 1950, in developed countries and less developed countries, people in any income groups have shorter working weeks, more public holidays and more paid annual leave. This increased the amount of free time the people have for them to tour around.

Example, in Australia, many employees can use paid overtime work for leaves. This increased the amount of leisure time for the employees to tour around.   

 

Changing Lifestyles

Changing lifestyles is the change in the way people live throughout their lifetime. The pace of life is faster today; many people from the workforce work for a longer time. This had made travelling a way to let people relax from their fast-paced work. The advancement in healthcare also give people more chance to travel. This is because the advancement of healthcare enable people to live longer and healthier. Therefore, they are more physically fit to travel. Retirees who are physically fit enough also like to travel around to spend the rest of their healthy life.
Example, cruise ships are popular with retirees. Retirees make up a large portion of the passengers in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Cruise ships. 



Developments in Technology

Better and Affordable Transport

Development in technology have helped improve the safety, the travelling time and the travelling cost of each tourist. Budget airlines had made air transport more affordable as they are smaller and fuel-efficient aircrafts. Budget airlines can only fly to short-haul destinations and let travelers travel to places not travelled by the normal airlines. Since 1980, budget airlines have expanded rapidly within Europe, North and South America, and Southeast Asia. An example of a budget airline is Jetstar Asia.

In the past, normal airplanes cannot travel to long-haul destinations at one go; it needs to stop to refuel. Presently, airplanes can fly up to 15000 kilometres at one go.

Example, in the past, De Havilland Comet 1 can only hold 36 passengers, fly at a maximum speed of 810 kilometres per hour and can only fly up to 2400 kilometres at one go. Travelling from Singapore to London can take 4 days

Presently, Airbus A380 can hold up to 853 passengers, fly at a maximum speed of 1090 kilometres per hour and can fly up to 15700 kilometres at one go.

 

More Air Routes and Agreements

The increase in the amount of air routes available have improved the connectivity to certain countries. Open skies agreement is an agreement made between government to stop restricting commercial flights between the countries which means that the airlines can decide freely the routes, capacity and price of their flights.

Example, Singapore had an open sky agreement with U.S.A. since 2001. Singapore airlines can now make a stopover at U.S.A. before going to the third country. This help in the growth of aircraft routes and flights, increase the airline companies in Singapore and reduce the price of flights for the passengers.

 

Ease of Access to Information



 The advancement of technology had also helped make information more readily available and accessible. Information can also be easily updated. Online booking and research has helped travelers access to information about their destinations easily. It also helped travelers to view feedbacks and recommendations from other travelers . Travelers can also book their tickets online without travelling to the travel agencies.