What main components comprise the basic whole tourism system?

Answer 1

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM SYSTEMS

MKT 01906 - Trimester B 2008

Assessment Item 1

India, Agra

WHOLE TOURISM SYSTEM IN PRACTICE AND THEORY

Prepared by:

Supradeep Avirneni

INTRODUCTIONThe Tourism industry is growing at a very fast rate. Tourists are now visiting some of the most remote and amazing places on earth, travelling to 'frontiers' on journeys that are psychological and emotional as well as geographical. Tourism in today's world is no more a luxury or simple sight seeing. Even the most common man can attain the status of a tourist. The tourism systems are the arrangement of people, places and organizations in particular roles and it is named as a geographical extremities. Many of the tourism systems are modeled as arrangements of five common elements which are interactive to environments (Neil Leiper 1990 pg-ii). Tourism is not only made up of hotels, airlines and the so called tourist industry it doesn't matter how it is described but rather a system of major components linked together in an intimate and interdependent relationship (Mill and Morrison 2002, pg-3)

This report will describe how the model of Whole Tourism System (WTS) is applied in a destination. Each and every tourist's journey will have at least three places in three basic roles actually there are five elements these places turn out to be geographical elements in whole tourism systems (lieper, as sited in Oppermann 1997,pg-117). There are five elements in whole tourism systems they are Traveller Generating Regions (TGR), the Transit Routes (TR) and the Tourist Destination Regions (TDR) Tourism Industries and Tourist these have been similarly analyzed them under the influence of diverse environments. Tourism growth in a specific destination cannot be broadly understood unless the other elements, TGR and TR, as well as the environments influencing in each region

I would like to explore the WTS in a historical place like Agra as it is famous of being home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World-the Taj Mahal. Almost three million domestic and foreign tourists visit the Taj annually, more than any other tourist site in India. The architectural splendour of the mausoleums, the fort and the palaces is a vivid remainder of the mausoleums, the fort and the palaces is a vivid reminder of the capital in the 16th and early 17th centuries. What is tourism?There are many definitions for the tourism defining what tourism actually is can be difficult. Tourism is the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes. Tourism is a dynamic and competitive industry that requires the ability to constantly adapt to customers' changing needs and desires, as the customer's satisfaction, safety and enjoyment are particularly the focus of tourism businesses. There are two different types of tourism

Ø Inbound tourism

Ø Out bound tourism

Ø Domestic tourism

Inbound tourism is the international tourists' visiting to Another Country. Outbound tourism is the residents of your country people travelling to another country (Jafari 2003 pg-158). Domestic tourists are the where the Indian people who make their tours with in the country (Leiper 2004, pg-55)

According to Leiper "the tourism can be defined as the theories and practices for being a tourist. This involves travelling and visiting places for leisure-related purposes. Tourism comprises the ideas and opinions people hold which share their decisions about going on trips, about where to go and where not to go and what to do or not to do about how to relate other tourists, locals and service personnel. And it is all the behavioral manifestations of those ideas." (Leiper 2004, pg-44) WHOLE TOURISM SYSTEM(WTS)Whole tourism system will help to understand about the tourism WTS is huge because every itinerary route followed by one or more tourists it is an open system its models are recognize that facts and its implementation the closed system is the one does not interact with the environment (Leiper 2004, pg-51). So many people are seeing the tourism as a industry rather than understanding the tourism as an system which includes the elements which are interrelated parts working together to complete general purposes. This is called tourism system (Mill and Morrison 2002, pg-3). The whole systems will tells about all tourism industry business hotels, resorts airlines other business and organizations affected by the tourism. And it provides the better understanding to the people who are working the hotels and resorts to not basically provide service to customers but to understand why they are coming to the hotels(Mill and Morrison 2002, pg-4). Leiper found the system he thought that there should be a model of whole tourism system (WTS) to present a way of bearing in mind the complete scope of tourism. For this reason, he gives a straightforward WTS influenced by its environments as seen in figure 1. Leiper (2004, p53). The simplest method to explore WTS is to begin by telling a sensible example (Leiper 2004, p49).Figure 1

A simple WTS and its environments ELEMENTS IN WTS

TouristsThe World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited". Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity.

According to the Leiper the tourists are the people "who travel away from the home to another place for a short-term period of at least one night, to the extent that their behaviour involves a search for leisure experiences from interactions with features or characteristics of places they choose to visit." Leiper (2004, p35)

Number of tourists will come to see the vibrant city in Uttar Pradesh, once the capital of the mighty Mughal Empire. Most visitors come to the city of 1.4 million to see 1653's testament to love, the stunning, symmetrical Taj Mahal, built by a grieving emperor for his queen. Taj Mahal Sits pretty on the northern side of this green paradise. It looks the same from all the four sides! The Quranic inscriptions on its four entrances are carved in such subtle increase in size that may appear to be of the same size from top to bottom Tourists in Agra are both domestic and international are shown in the table below.

Month

Domestic

Foreign

Day

Total

April

126975

5133

319483

451591

May

454347

32024

274729

761100

June

470827

26322

295412

792561

July

471010

20693

3850408

4342111

August

262135

32702

249977

544814

September

328053

33177

209251

570481

October

475876

55658

1466727

1998261

November

346534

41573

1392904

1781011

December

441927

40937

1257743

1740607

January

366073

57934

1027604

1451611

February

375408

52783

1248860

1677051

March

375603

53450

1259386

1688439

Total

4494768

452386

12852484

17799638Month wise number of tourist visitors in Uttar Pradesh

Source: - Collection of Tourism Statistics for the State of Uttar Pradesh pg-E6

The number of international and domestic tourists who visit to Agra is very high. There are so many natural beauty places like Agra fort Radhaswami Samadhi dayalbagh it is Dayalbagh, a tribute to the founder of Radha Swami Faith. Devout followers believe the service, purifies the soul. At Dayalbagh their services bear's fruit in an edifice as spectacular as the Taj Built in white and colour marble, it is continuously being decorated for 100 years now with extra-ordinary feats in stone and gems.

A beautiful natural forest cover spread over 70 hectares of area just 500mts away from the eastern gate of Taj Mahal. An excellent view of the Taj can be found from the different mounds of the park. Flora & Funa of different species are found there.

Indian tourism industry from the last couple of years has emerged as a major factor in the growth of Indian economy with substantial foreign exchange earnings. As tourism constitutes various other related sectors including hotels, resorts, and other industries it has a significant contribution to the over all revenue. The popularity of India as one of the most favored tourist destinations is also a result of extensive advertising and marketing strategy of the government, which it has started under the banner of 'Incredible India' and a great success so far. Again as tourism is an individual state-affair, states also realize the importance of natural heritage as prime source of income and started promoting domestic tourism by diversifying tourism products.

Foreign exchange earnings in RS from 1991-2005

Source: - PDF Incredible; Goa, Rajasthan, Agra, Mumbai or just Incredible India

Tourist destination regions (TDRs)TDRs are places where a tourist's main visiting activities occurs (Leiper 2004, p51), Agra Taj Mahal One of the Seven Wonders of the World is one of the well-known destinations of the World Tourism map with three heritage monuments-The Taj Mahal, Red Fort & Fatehpur Sikri. It is not just a dacadent city of graveyards and stones, but it is a vibrant centre of Culture, Art and Religious philosphies that have enriched mankind and shaped human thought over centuries it is very beautiful to visit Agra as a TDR.

(Source : - Agrahub.com, 2008)

The beauty of Taj Mahal comes up as outstanding whenever the people visit weather it is early morning, afternoon, or evening but it's awesome at the night times especially on the full moon day. The rays of the moon light up the entire monument and lend it a slight silvery glow.

There will be a festival in Agra called Taj Mahaotsav at that time the culture and tradition of the Agra is exposed to tourists in the form of folk dances and road side magic shows and the city becomes during this period. Agra is not only a famous tourist destination but is a shopper's paradise too. There are plenty of shopping areas and shopping malls where one can buy the specialties of the place. Agrais the best place for leather products its pretty cheep and the tourists can find different verities of leather goods and a good range of decorative articles made up of metals like brass, silver, copper is also available. The tourist trip to Agra is unfinished if they don't buy a replica Taj Mahal. It is a mini Taj Mahal where the tourists can take back to their home. (Source: - Destinationsindia.com, 2008)

Transits Route Regions (TRRs)TRRs are described as places where a tourist's main traveling activities occurs (Leiper 2004, p51). The distance frequently seems a critical factor for the tourism.

Source:- goway.com, 2008

There are many international flights and domestics flights to New Delhi and from there are several ways to reach the main destination for Agra there are frequent trains via Agra to other places and UPSRTC provides transit service to its passengers in Uttar Pradesh and to the neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh to Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. It has connecting services to Delhi and to the places in Uttaranchal. The Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains have also their stoppage in Agra. The city is well connected by trains to almost every corner of the nation. Agra has the national highway numbers 2, 3, 11 passing through it. So the premier tourist destination of India is also well linked by bus services to other places in the State as well as outside the state. The state transports have deluxe as well as ordinary bus services for the place. There are conducted tours which take tourist not only to Agra but the near by tourist spots too.

The golden triangle tour covers the main major three historical and beautiful places in India starting with Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. On this golden triangle tour the tourists can easily travel from historic capital of India - Delhi, to the Agra, city of the Taj Mahal, to Jaipur, the Pink City, home to many grand Forts and Palaces in Rajasthan. The travelling distance between these three places will not take much time its only 200Km between each distance it will take only few hours to reach another destination the tourists can go for sightseeing, shopping and have a memorable tour on the Golden Triangle Tour with Agra Hub (Source:- agrahub.com, 2008)

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Traveler-generating regions (TGRs)TGRs are places where a tourist's trip begins and normally ends (Leiper 2004, pg-51), the generating regions are the place for the essential markets of the tourist business and it is the basis of tourist industry (Bhatta, 2002, pg-32). Agra s not only a TDR it is also a TGR the people who live in Agra and the tourists who comes to visit for golden triangle tour they will also visit the another places in India as choosing Agra as a TGR. And who lives near by places they visit different places and India and they will visit all over the world. Most of the Indian people will visit the near places to them the Agra people and other north Indians will visit the near places like puskahar, Rajasthan, and other historical places how ever there are many festivals are celebrated in India so many people will go for different places and they will stay for long vacations and many of the people near to Agra they will visit to other countries as a visitors and for business purpose as well. So each and every place can be viewed as TGR and at the same time it can be TDR as well.

Most of the local governments in India they are paying attention on evaluating and analyzing their own TDR to develop their tourism system. This will certainly helps them to look forward to how far the demand of the market can be fulfilled in the TDR. Based on Richardson and Fluker (2004, p39) it is not enough clarification, TGRs also need to be understood as it can help government to see geographical, economical and psychological factors brought by tourists come to the city.

Tourism industriesTourism industries are an organizational element which is collections of managed organizations in the business of tourism that work together to some degree in marketing tourism and providing services, goods and facilities (Leiper 2004, pg-51).

The tourists arriving in Agra were welcomed at the Hotel Taj Khema of the UP tourism department by folk artists to the loud beats of traditional drums and other Musical Instruments, with the UP tourism hosting a breakfast in their honour. And there are various tourism industries to accommodate tourists visiting to Agra. TajMahalAgra.com is a part of Indian Holidays Pvt. Ltd. It is recognized by ministry of government other than this they have relation ships between august bodies in travel and tourism industries. "Trafford Tours and Travels is associated with Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) it is the main source premier trade body of Inbound Tour Operators in India who strive for the growth of Indian tourism industry and strive to provide quality services to our visitors." Source: - TajMahalAgra.com, 2008

EnvironmentsWhole tourism systems are open systems it includes the communication of the five elements with a number of environments human, sociocultural, technological, economic, physical, political, legal within which tourism occurs (Leiper 2004, pg-60). More explanation about how these environments as part of the WTS affect the other elements is explained in the next part of this paper INTERRELATIONS AMONG ELEMENTSElements are essential but need to be dissected to understand the system and how it functions (Leiper as cited in Richardson and Fluker 2004, pg-36). The elements in Tourism will bring their own functions to complete each other. Lastly the whole system is formed. Understanding every element and the interrelationship surrounded by them will direct tourism planners to expand tourism using the elements as their business tools (Richardson and Fluker 2004, pg-38).

Understanding every element will help tourism planners to plan their step of proceedings. Firstly, TGR can be measured by marketer as everyplace all marketing hard work have to be in progress and taken place (Richardson and Fluker 2004, pg-38). All the elements are required for a successful tour (trip). The TGR will provide the tourists and TDR obtain them. Many of the people will not focus on TGR even the governments won't look at the TGR prospective many people look how fat the guest can accommodate after they arrive to the TDR. In reality, understanding the link connecting between TGRs and TDRs will build tourism organizations turn into aware of what are actually required by tourists when they approach to TDRs.

To arrive at TDR from TGR, TRR is essential at this point of view, marketers need to be aware of TRR by anticipating influences specified by both TDR and TGR and how the circumstance of TRR will have an effect on tourists using the TRR (Richardson and Fluker 2004, pg-39). In India all states of local governments will give some signage directing tourists to Agra There's also a UP Tourism daytrip which provide TRR by coach which takes in Taj, Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. More signs will me kept for different destinations where the tourists may get confusion as in India there are different TRRs are there to reach for one destination as the tourist can't understand if they miss at one place. Agra being the home of the Taj Mahal, this road is constantly crowded with tourist and commercial traffic.

To work each and every system the tourism marketers should think about the tourism organizations (Richardson and Fluker 2004, pg40) they should take special care about the tourists like where to accommodate them properly. As I mentioned in the tourism industry section the UP government have the relations between the other tour operators and where they can maintain the relations between the hotels and resorts.

Environments have to be seen as a particular system and can not be viewed individually. If a vary take place in an element of tourism system will influence the whole system process because the elements in the form are interconnected to every other (Richardson and Fluker 2004, p38). The first impact is that of an unbalanced, overcrowded and a polluted environment that has nothing to offer, than scorching heat and sweat. There are so many natural places and parks during more people the city is developing very fastly so there is disaster in natural environment and this will have an effect on the other WTS elements. . ENVIRONMENTS AFFECTING WTSEnvironments nearby a tourism destination interrelate with tourism actions happening in the destination. A change in whichever environments can change the pattern of tourism (Richardson and Fluker 2004, p38). Following are some environments affecting WTS in Agra.

Physical environmentAgrais renowned for being home to the Taj Mahal, one of the architectural wonders of the world. Agra is home to some finest buildings and palaces of the Mughal era. The architecture of the buildings reflects Mughal style and elegance. The architectural magnificence of the Mughals it is the major tourist attractions in Agra one of the major cities of historical significance in India it is situated on the banks of river Yamuna. This physical environment is the first reason for the city to be a TDR.

At the present the Agra is facing some environmental problems. The river Yamuna which is flowing adjacent to the monument is polluted and this is affecting the monument. The white monument (Taj Mahal) is witnessing decolorization. The polluted river is polluting the monument as well... And it seems Shah-jehan's dream of a "BLACK TAJ MAHAL" may become true as the monument may turn black if the pollution level in the river is unchecked.

Social environmentFrom a social perspective Tourism is a social activity; it is about interaction between different community's hosts and guests and encounter between different cultures. This come up to social classes, habits and customs of both hosts and guests in terms of tourism behavior of individuals or groups of people and the impact of tourism on society. Especially on Fridays in Agra at morning times the whole area will be very calm and peace full because in that place mostly Muslim people will live so they will go for prayer so the tourist who visit to that place can't find any thing to look and the even the main attraction of Taj Mahal will also be closed on Fridays do it is the main defect for the tourists who visit at that time period. Political environmentThere are several concerns to consider that affecting the whole tourism the other state political people are making the small thing to a large extent and they are making the public in to troubles these impacts have a serious impact on the travel and tourism industry, leading to increased business failures Demise of certain destinations. In India the main problem of tourists are facing the traffic issues while travelling from Delhi to Agra and from Agra to other places by road the tourists are canceling their trips and heading back to other places and the domestic tourists who are visiting on their leisure time they are choosing their trips to the other destinations it is mainly affecting the economy and tourism industry (Anil Sharma 2008 May, 29th, thaindian.com). WTS AFFECTING ENVIRONMENTSThe environments of anything are the nearby circumstance that may have an effect on it in any way and that might be affected by it (Leiper 2004, p226). A modify in any environments can alter the model of tourism, so too can change in tourism impact on environments (Richardson and Fluker 2004, p38). Economic impactsTourism has major effects on the economies of destination areas (Mathieson and Wall 1982, p35). A number of factors are responsible for the rapid growth and development of the tourism industry in India. These include the strong economic growth increase in income, breakdown of political barriers, easing of travel restrictions, liberalization of air transport, and focused marketing campaigns. Strong economic growth in India is attributed to a focus on market reforms, export oriented industries, stable currencies, diversification of the economy, and massive injection of foreign capital. Billions of dollars are being poured into the tourism infrastructure to accommodate a rapidly increasing Indian tourism industry. This has intensified trade, investment, and travel within the region and with the rest of the world.

Tourism also help to generate additional job placements for its people (Mathieson and Wall 1982, p42). Tourists spending money in Agra as a TDR also give involvement in rising per capita wages in those places and also improve various business for other communities.

Physical impactsMainly in Agra mostly at weekend it is seen as physical impacts caused by the huge number of tourists coming from everywhere and the domestic tourists are also plays a major roll in the weekend time. So it leads to traffic jams in all nine highways it is main worst part and the pollution. Each and every part of the surrounding roads will be jammed with the traffic the small areas in the city are also full by people and vehicles beyond the capability. Air, land, water pollutions and urban waste are increased because of activities done by tourists. CONCLUSIONWTS will give the deeper understanding regarding the tourism the WTS can be used for the wide-ranging of discussion (Richardson and Fluker 2004, p38). This whole system will helps the tourism planners the planners need to understand this system because it will gives the brief understanding about each and every element in this system and how it will after the other system as well. All the system are interrelated to other systems so each and every element should work properly as if one fails to function properly wit will affect the whole tourism system.

According to my point of view many of the tourists they will see Agra as a TDR because it is the major attraction and the wont give much preference to the other elements in the WTS. But from my point of view after studying about the whole tourism system each and every element is important to be a success full trip if one of the element is missing from the WTS there is no tour and the there is no tourism. We can see several changes happening in the tourism WTS will show all the changes (Richardson and Fluker 2004, p4). ReferencesØ Anil Sharma 2008 May, 29th, thaindian.com

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/rajasthan-tourism-hit-by- jaipur-blasts-gujjar-protests_10054230.HTML

Ø Bhatta R.N, 2002, "Tourism and the Environment: A Quest for Sustainability" Indus PublishingØ Destinationsindia.com, 2008

http://www.destinationsindia.com/taj-mahal/shopping-in-taj-city.HTML

Ø goway.com, 2008, www.goway.com/Asia/India/india_goldtriangle.HTML

Ø Jafari, 2000, "Encyclopedia of Tourism" published Routledge.

Ø Leiper, Neil. 2004, "Tourism Management", 3rd Edition. French Forest NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

Ø Leiper, 1990, "Tourism Systems an Interdisciplinary Perspective" Massey University Printery.

Ø Mathieson, A. and Geoffrey Wall. 1982. Tourism, "Economic, physical and social impacts". New York: Longman Scientific & Technical.

Ø Martin Oppermann, 1997, "Geography and Tourism Marketing", Haworth Press.

Ø Mill, Robert Christie and Alastair M. Morrison, 2002, "The Tourism System". 4th Edition. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publication.

Ø Nikki pulk September 2007, "Incredible; Goa, Rajasthan, Agra, Mumbai or just Incredible India"

Ø Agragub.com, 2008 http://www.agrahub.com/taj-mahal-agra/history-of-the-tajmahal.HTML

Ø TajMahalAgra.com, 2008, http://www.tajmahalagra.com/about-us.HTML