Tourism in Paris

Stages of development
For the article I will use Paris in France as case study due to the fact that it is considered as a major tourist destination. Paris is the capital of France. Paris has gone through the following stages of development: – discovery, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation and rejuvenation (Butler, 2006 andLec week 1). During the discovery stage few people visited Paris and had little impact on the general lives of the people. The involvement stage and the development stage occurred between the years 448 until 1848 the French kings who governed France commissioned many monuments such as the Versailles palace and the Louvre museum, the church also played a big role in the development of Paris as there built great churches as the Notre Dame and Sainte Chappelle.
During the 1870 the city of Paris experienced bloody wars which destroyed the city, but if bounced back when Francois Mitterrand was elected president of France in the year 1981. His election brought many changes to the city’s general appearance and also attracted many artiste and intellectuals from the world over. The artists’ arts were displayed in the Louvre Museum.
The construction of the Eiffel tower also attracted many number of tourist to the city and has become a historical monument world over. The Disneyland Paris opened in the year 1992 also welcomed more visitors to Paris this s due to its theme parks, cosy hotels which ensures that adults and children can visit the facility as have fun as a family.
A period of stagnation in tourism was experienced during the period 2008-2009 due to the economic recession and outbreak of swine flu which restricted world travel. Paris came back from this period of stagnation as it recovered from the economic recession, another factor that contributed to the rejuvenation of Paris as tourist destination is due the fact that Paris is known as a Fashion and Shopping centre with its many fashion brands like Chanel and Dior and its Fashion shows which attract designers and potential clientele worldwide.
Approaches to Destination Management
Destination management refers to how tourism products are distributed through a variety of avenues. Destination management systems allow tourist firms and destinations to market their products both locally and internationally. Destination management emerged as the world become more as a village due to advances in communication like the internet, which lets people to communicate with other people in different areas. There are different tourist destinations worldwide and to distinguish a destination from another then we need sustainable and effective destination management.
First approach to destination management is E-marketing this refers to were e-newsletters, updates and promotion are offered to potential tourist who want more information about the company. The tourists are therefore able to organize their stay in Paris.
Another approach to destination management is to ensure that the destination is environmentally friendly. One of the tourist attractions in Paris is Disneyland which publicized its environmental goals in conservation of water, energy and the eco system. One of the ways that Disneyland has done this is by using renewable source of energy in its total energy consumption. Another commitment of Disneyland Paris in its environmental commitment is the use of certified bags made of recycled material.
Effective and sustainable destination management also involves social involvement, it involves reflecting on the community’s values and what the destination represents the aspiration of the community and how influx of people will affect the community around the area.
Destination management also involves adding value to a particular destination this can be achieved by providing accommodation facilities, sales outlets, eating outlets. This enhances the experience of the visitors and diversifies the local economy. The Tuileries garden located near the Louvre Museum provide fresh air and greenery and during summer carnivals are set up.
Effective destination management also involves an understanding of the market trend and the specific needs of the target group. The opening of Paris Disneyland attracted families; the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral is major attraction to architects. It also involves easy accessibility to the destination. Paris has been a major tourist destination due to its accessibility by plane, road and train station that connect to major European capitals.
Sustainable destination management will allow tourism to develop in an area and meet present and future needs of the society within the destination effectively.(Lecture week 1)
System of Governance
Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements (districts), each of this has its own council and mayor. The mayor is chosen by the council and he holds most of the power in Paris. The city of Paris together with its suburbs constitutes the eight departments of the Ile-de –France administrative region. The eight departments are ruled by an assembly, chairman (president) and supervisor and is also overseen by a prefect.
Research undertakings/application of research
Research is undertaken to identify the potential benefits and revenue in comparison to the capital invested in making the destination a good tourism area. A good market research is never complete without a business plan that shows the technology to use , process to follow, how market demand will be satisfied, revenues and estimated costs. Market research is undertaken to identify targeted customer needs in terms of tangible product such as accommodation and attractions and intangible experiences such as fun or adventure. This is important for the branding purpose.
Tourism Policy & Planning
Planning involves adoption of a long term goals, planning also involves deployment of resources which will enable the destination to function in the future. There are five approaches to tourism: booterism, economic, physical, community based and sustainable tourism. Booterism focuses on economic growth above all other and financial gain, in economic planning tourism is seen as export industry in that it is able to cure all economic fails. Physical planning integrates all cultural and social issues within an ecology approach that is planning must be there, community based planning focuses on the success of the community within that destination. Sustainable tourism planning will involve planning for the long term future
Development of policies are within the planning process despite Paris is a beautiful place and is one of the most visited cities in the world and despite this France has never had a tourism policy. But recently, the French government has decided to create a tourism policy in order to use tourism to improve the economy. The reason why France has never had a tourism policy is because the French have never valued jobs in the tourism sector.
The main aim of this new tourism policy is to increase jobs in the tourism sector and increase tourist expenditure hence boosting the economy. For this to happen, the government has to come up with a plan. The first plan in motion at the moment is to promote destinations which are outside Paris in order to lure the tourists into staying longer in the country. The second ploy is improving hospitality by changing the rude and unwelcome ways of citizens in Paris. In addition to this a guide, Do You speak Touriste? , has been introduced to the hospitality industry with the aim of familiarizing the work force with language and cultural practices of visitors. The third thing that the government is trying to do is, keeping tourist spots, shops and restaurants open at regular hours. Paris is also infamous for its many pickpockets hence the police department has created a guide in six languages with recommendations on how to avoid pickpockets.
Stakeholders
Some of the stakeholders in the tourism industry are the government, tourism operators this include guides associations and travel agencies and the local community and last but not least are the tourists. The government has a major role in the tourism industry as it is responsible for making regulation that govern the sector, offer economic incentives and the resources. The government gets its share from the sector in terms of tax. Tourism operators seek profitability from the industry. The local community is seeking improved quality of life without their exploitation
Forms of Tourism
External sources such as fashion, political or environmental circumstances may easily affect tourism destinations. A tourist destination however can offer several forms of tourism to their visitors depending on the type of resources it has. Below is a description of several forms of tourism.
Leisure:This type of tourism focuses on sporting activities , leisure activities, visiting of place of interest and shopping for goods.
Health: Health tourism is defined as people travelling from their place of residence to spas , health and fitness centres, as well as travelling to receive treatment or a surgical procedure for disease The latter has been driven by high costs and long waiting lists in the generating countries and by new technology and skills, lower cost of health care and quality care in destination countries .
Educational: Educational tourism Includes both travelling to attend an academic institution or participation in a tour for the purposes of learning.
Business tourism. Is travel to attend an activity or event associated with business interests.it includes trading for goods to be resold, attending meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.
Business travellers occur at different times of the year and may return to a destination as leisure travellers. Business travellers at times travel with their partners hence there can spend extra time in the destination for leisure purposes. Business tourism is not affected by economic downturns that affect leisure tourism.
Visiting friends or relatives (VFR): This term refers to travel primarily meant to visit friends or relatives or could be a combination of visiting friends and relatives with a vacation.
Religion: Religious tourism is tourism motivated strongly for religious reasons. This may include
pilgrimages to significant religious places or for religious conferences or event
Sport: Sport tourism is travel to participate in a sports activity or for viewing a sporting activity (e.g. the Olympics, world cup); or to visit a sports attraction in sport. Resorts often specialise in providing sport activities and specialized tours such as package ski tours or tours for spectators and participants have been developed.
Application of sustainability indicators (social, economic, & environmental)
Social sustainability refers to respecting human rights and equal opportunity for all in the community that that the destination is based. Social equity includes improving opportunities, income and services for the community including access to resources and amenities. Social sustainability also involves providing a satisfying and fulfilling experience to all visitors. Social sustainability also involves respect of the historical heritage and traditions of the community.
Economic sustainability refers to creating prosperity at different levels of society and addressing the cost success of all economic activity. To ensure that destination is competitive you have to ensure that the destination is able to continue and deliver benefits in the long run. The community also has to prosper this is done by increasing the number of local jobs with good pay ,this will reduce poverty level. Policy of destination should also take into consideration that not all people are at an economic advantage hence the policy should provide opportunities to take inexpensive holidays.
Environmental sustainability involves conserving and managing resources. Sustainable tourism should make optimal use of environmental resources and maintaining the ecology process by minimizing pollution of air, water and land. Policies and action to minimize impact of the environment include visitor management measures, educational activity to change behavior.
Sustainable indicators ensure greater public accountability, identification of emerging risk and their prevention, better decision making and lower costs.
Competition and collaboration
For every destination there is a competitor hence a destinations performance is gauged against a similar destination offering the same products. In-order to craft an effective destination strategy one needs to keep an eye on the key rivals, for the case of Paris one its key competitors in the East. In order to stay ahead of the competition the industry players have to be aware of new up and coming destinations and their relative price and quality.
In order to improve sustainability in the tourism industry stakeholders in the industry have to collaborate with each other. Collaboration is a three phase process that involves problem identification, agreements between stakeholders and the last but not least phase is implementation of the chosen course.
Destination Marketing
To attract a share of the global tourism market it is important for a destination to establish a recognized position and brand image in the market. Marketing of a destination involves branding of the destination, to successfully brand a destination like Paris a destination needs to understand the intended customer. A destination has different experiences and products to offer each of which will appeal to different market. (Morgan ,2002)
Destination marketing involves ensuring that you have consistent cost and fair pricing in all its tours and differencing its self from other destination by offering different experiences. Paris has a competitive edge in the tourism industry due to the fact that it has established it’s self as a fashion capital.
Another destination tool is promotion; this will entice potential visitors to visit the destination. The promotion may include reduced prices for family in accommodation. Marketing a destination is never complete without consumer advertising through different media. Effective destination marketing has many added advantages this includes destination awareness and demand creation, customer loyalty and image enhancement
Tourism Trends
Globally tourism is being influenced by a number of trends:-
Demographics trends: Some of the trends within the population is emergence of more people involved in health tourism, youths are having more many to spend hence creating more opportunities in adventure tourism and people are shying away from packaged tours and going to independent travels.( European Travel Commission,2006)
Environmental trends: people are becoming more environmental conscience hence more tourists are going to destinations that are more environmental friendly and away of climate change and doing their best to be eco- friendly.( European Travel Commission,2006),
Transport trends: Destinations not easy accessible by a mode of transport are suffering that being the case governments are therefore investing heavily on improving accessibility to the destination. This has been done by investing more in airports, budget airline routes and high speed trains that connect between different destinations.( European Travel Commission,2006),
Marketing Trends: Potential tourists are seeking advice from other people through the internet; this drives development in tourism product. Marketing messages based on experience of people in the destination will be more important on the decisions people make to travel. ( European Travel Commission,2006)
Challenges that Face Tourism
Growth in the tourism sector will bring pressure into towns and cities and cultural heritages as traffic increases and pressure on social amenities. As in the case of Paris growth of tourism has lead increase in petty crimes as people look for avenues of easy more hence targeting of tourists.
Climate change has consequences for tourism, and on the other hand tourism contributes to climate change. Changes in temperature and rain affect the appeal of certain areas of the world depending on where original destination of tourists. Green house emission gases also increase due to air travel and congestion in the city due to more taxis feeling tourist from one destination to another. Uncertainty about the health and safety of travelling to a particular region has led to fluctuations in tourism. (WHO and UNEP,2005)
To overcome these challenges one has to encourage visitors to spend toward the informal sector which consists of poor people to avoid [people from resorting to crime. Another way is to ensure that people employed in the tourist industry are well paid. More resources should be put into conservation efforts.
References
Butler, R. W. (2006). The origins of the tourism are life cycle. In R. W. Butler (Ed.),The tourism area life cycle. Vol. 1. Applications and modifications
European Travel Commission(2006), Tourism Trends For Europe, ETC, Belgium.
English Tourist Board And Tourism Management Institute(2003), Destination Management Handbook, TMI,UK.
Lagiewski, R. M. (2009). The application of the TALC model: A literature survey.In R. W. Butler (Ed.), The tourism area life cycle, Vol. 1: Applications and modifications (pp. 27–50). Clevedon: Channel View.
Leiper, N.(1990) Tourist Attraction Systems. Annals of Tourism Research
Pearce, D. G.(1989 )Tourist Development (2nd ed.). Harlow: Longman.
Pearce, D.G(1997) Analysing the Demand for Urban Tourism: Issues and Examples from Paris.
Harrill, R. (2003), Guide to best Practices in Tourism and Destination Management, Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Michigan ,USA
Morgan,N.et . (2002) ,Destination Branding: Creating the Unique Destination Proposition, Butterworth- Heineman, Oxford
World Tourism Organization (2006),Sustainable Development of tourism retieved from https://www.world-tourism.org/sustainable
WHO and UNEP(2005)Making Tourism More Sustainable :A Guide for Policy Makers


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