Attractions, Entertainment, Recreation, and Other Tourist Draws - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 173

INTRODUCTION

O ne can make the argument that attractions are the reason people travel. If so, attractions are the

most important component in the tourism system—and a case could be made that because of
their importance in the tourism system, they should be covered in Chapter 1 rather than Chapter 8. There
is no doubt that attractions are the main motivators for travel. Without attractions drawing tourists to
destinations, there would be little need for all other tourism services such as transportation, lodging,
food, distribution, and so on. However, as important as attractions are inmotivating the tourist to travel,
the attraction frequently receives the smallest portion of the tourist is expenditure. An example is the ski

resort that sells only the lift ticket providing uphill transportation. This expenditure is the smallest of the
travel experience, with the most expenditures going for air transportation, lodging, and food.
The list of attractions is extensive, and in many cases it is a combination of attractions that brings
the tourist to a destination area. The opportunities for sightseeing, shopping, entertainment, gaming,
culture, and recreation play an important role in determining the competitiveness of a destination.
Figure 8.1 extracts the operating sectors from Figure 1.2 and shows that attractions, events, adventure
and outdoor recreation, and entertainment are important supply components.

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ATTRACTIONS

Attractions can be classi ed in a number of ways (see Figure 8.2). One of the categories that rst

comes tomind is theme or amusement parks. The roots of these attractions go back tomedieval Europe,
when pleasure gardens were created. These gardens were the forerunner of today s parks, featuring rides,

fireworks, dancing, and games. Today, theme parks are high-pro le attractions made famous by Disney,
Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, and others. They represent multimillion-dollar investments.

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Figure 8.1

Operating sectors of the
tourism industry: attractions, events,
adventure, and entertainment.