Do Attractions Attract Tourists? Length Up to 5000 words The purpose of this assignment is to have students critically review theory and test it against empirical data. Students will have to demonstrate their abilities to integrate theory and practice. Students will prepare a research essay based on a combination of detailed literature review and original data analysis. The paper will consists of two parts: – Part 1 – A critical review of the literature, comparing and contrasting different ideas presented in the lectures and elsewhere. Students are expected to read more than the core readings assigned. – Part 2 Relate the theory to practice in Hong Kong, by analysing primary or secondary data. – Part 3 A short discussion section integrating theory and practice. Do Attractions Attract Tourists? Destinations seem to feel the need to build attractions to draw tourists. This argument is based on the traditional push theory of marketing based on the assumption that “if you build it they will come.” The assumption is that primary attractions are the reason why people visit. In some cases this may be true, but more recent marketing theory suggests people travel to have personal needs met rather than to visit specific attractions. At best, attractions are needs satisfiers, and rather than being and end in themselves, attractions serve as a means to an end. And so, the question is raised about whether built attractions actually “attract” tourists, facilitate desired needs satisfaction, represent something that must be seen in the destination even if not part of the reason to visit or simply provide something to do to kill time between other activities? This question relates to how one places an attraction in the product taxonomy (a specific attraction, a set of like attractions or a broader group comprised of different sets of attractions that share similar profiles) AND the specificity of motive as suggested by Pearce (core, mid and outer layer). It also has been suggested that the role of an attraction may vary by market and destination. Do attractions attract tourists or simply satisfy needs? The assignment: Analyse 3 source markets (Germany, China, USA) and qualitative market reports from at least 3 different destinations (Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, and Canada) to determine if attractions play a different role in attracting tourists This analysis involves two steps: 1) A source market comparison (to see if and how the 3 destinations are different across a specific market) 2) A destination comparison (to see how the same destination regards each different source market) To answer this question, you will need to: a) Review relevant literature on attractions and attractions systems b) Attempt to discern whether visitation is due to the extrinsic appeal of the attraction or due to its intrinsic appeal as a need satisfier.
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