tourism destinations
As part of the formal assessment for the HNC/D programme you are required to submit an
assignment for each module. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the
programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting
assignments.
After completing the module you should be able to:
LO1 – Understand the scope of the key UK and worldwide tourist destinations
LO2 – Understand the cultural, social and physical features of tourist destinations
LO3 – Understand how the characteristics of destinations affect their appeal to tourists
LO4 – Understand issues likely to affect the popularity of tourist destinations
Assignment Task
This assessment introduces the main tourism destinations, the cultural, social and physical features
of those destinations and the issues and trends which affect their popularity. Visitor numbers,
statistics and other relevant data will be analysed together with the issues which have affected
tourism in the past and the impact these issues will have on a destination’s popularity for the future.
The tasks below are to be presented as a journal article
Task 1: Examine the main tourist destinations of the world
LO 1
Please email this task to your tutor at [email protected] four weeks before the final
submission date for feedback.
This task will require you to interpret key statistics on the main tourist destinations. You will need to
look at: UNWTO statistics and ABTA trends and examine the main destinations. Ensure you include
relevant tables to aid your explanation and Harvard reference any statistics discussed.
Present your answers as a journal article
a) Introduce your article with an analysis of tourist destinations taken from the UK, Europe and the
rest of the world. You will identify main destinations using visitor numbers and income
generation. Explain the reasons for the patterns of growth or decline identified for major
destinations. In addition, identify the areas which are the main generators (sources of tourists
and income generation). (1.1)
b) Based on your research, conclude this section with an analysis of statistics to predict future
trends of tourist destinations, identifying growing and declining markets.(1.2)
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Task 2: Determine cultural, social and physical features distinguishing tourist destinations/
Explore how the characteristics of destinations affect their appeal to destinations.
LO 2 / LO 3
The second part of your journal article will comprise of an analysis of the features of top destinations.
a) For Spain, USA, Bulgaria and Vietnam analyse their cultural, social and physical features.
Compare their appeal to tourists and to other top destinations. (2.1, 2.2, 3.1)
b) Provide an evaluation of how different features and characteristics of a destination affect the
appeal for different types of tourists. When explaining the different types of tourist use Cohen
(1972), Smith (1977), or classifications studied in marketing. ( 3.2)
Appeal: popularity, change in visitor numbers, types of visitors.
Characteristics: culture-behaviour; norms; lifestyles; stereotypes; needs and requirements; social
aspects; values; traditions; customs; historical; wildlife; urban resources.
Task 3 – Research issues which are likely to affect the popularity of tourist destinations.
LO 4
The final section of your journal article should analyse the issues that affect the popularity of tourist
destinations:
a) Using relevant sources of information – provide an analysis of the effect of three factors which
affect popularity on both the visitor numbers and the generation of income for a tourist
destination. (4.1)
b) Explain how responsible tourism contributes to a host community. (4.2)
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Student Guidelines
1. You should write this assignment in the form of a journal article.
2. You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used are
correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of academic unfair practice.
(See the Student Handbook which is in the Induction Area). Please also refer to the ‘Guide to Unfair
Practice in Assessment’ on the module page on ilearn.
3. You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide
ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the Arden University (AU) Harvard
system. The My Study Skills Area contains the following useful resources:
Guide to Harvard Referencing
http://moodle.bl.rdi.co.uk/guides/HarvardRef/AU_Harvard_Quick_Ref_Guide.pdf
Guide to Harvard Citation
http://moodle.bl.rdi.co.uk/guides/HarvardRef/AU_Guide_to_Harvard_Citation.pdf
You must use the AU Harvard Referencing method in your assignment.
4. You should use diagrams and tables of figures where appropriate ensuring to reference their
source using the AU Harvard Referencing method.
5. You are required to write your assignment within 3,500 words in order for your research and
summarising skills to be developed, and for effective time management. You are required to ensure
that the assignment addresses all of the assessment tasks. In the interests of good academic
practice, an assignment submitted with excessive word counts (i.e. more than 10% in excess
of the limit) will be returned to you. You will be given a maximum of 48 hours to edit the work to
reduce the word count to the permitted maximum. In the event that the submission is still
regarded as excessively long then, in line with advice received from Pearson, we will be
unable to accept it for marking and you will receive a Refer grade for Non-Submission.
The word count excludes the title page, reference list and appendices. Where assessment
questions have been reprinted from the assessment brief these will also be excluded from the word
count. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count. Printed words include those
contained within charts and tables.
6. Your assignment should be submitted as a single document. For more information please see the
“Guide to Submitting an Assignment” document available on the module page on iLearn.
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Recommended Additional Resources
Textbooks
Online CORE E-Book recommended for this course:
Cooper, C. Fletcher, J. Gilbert, D. Shepherd, R. Wanhill, S., 2008. Tourism: Principles and
Practice. 4th edition. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Access to this E-Book is provided via the Vitalsource Bookshelf software – contact the Student Support Team for access code
Online ‘library’ resource available via ilearn
EBSCO Business Source Complete
Page, S., 2011. Tourism Management: An Introduction. 4th Edition. Amsterdam: Routledge
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=451267&site=ehostlive&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_Cover
Weaver, D.B., 2006. Sustainable Tourism: Theory and Practice. Amsterdam: Routledge
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=189673&site=ehostlive&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_Cover
MyiLibrary
Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D. and Wanhill, S., 2013. Tourism: Principles and Practices – 5
th
Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited
http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=497445
This Fletcher et al. (2013) text is a newer version of the Cooper et al. (2008) text, referred to above.
Holloway, C. and Humphries, C., 2016. Business of Tourism. 10th Edition. Harlow: Pearson
Education Limited
http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=900290
Holloway, C. and Humphries, C., 2012. Business of Tourism. 9th Edition. Harlow: Pearson
Education Limited
http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=399619
Page, S. and Connell, J., 2014. Tourism: A Modern Synthesis. 4th Edition. Andover: Cengage
Learning
http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=581960
Websites
http://abta.com/resource-zone/travel-trends-2015
http://mkt.unwto.org/barometer/january-2015-volume-13
http://www.wtmlondon.com/RXUK/RXUK_WTMLondon/2015/documents/WTM-Global-Trends-
2014.pdf
