What is a tourist destination? Is it a hotel, city, country or region? This article provides a clear understanding of what constitutes this tourism phenomenon.
A tourist destination is basically a travel destination that attracts large numbers of travellers or tourists. Travellers may visit these destinations to see historical sites, natural wonders or unique buildings.
Some tourist attractions also have activities such as rides or games, or unusual novelties. Souvenirs are often sold at these destinations, and many of these areas rely on the income generated by travellers who visit them.
While a part of the above definition focuses on the revenue that a destination earns, the next explanation is based on the marketing tendencies of the place. According to Bierman (2003), a destination is a country, state, region, city or town which is marketed or markets itself as a place for tourists to visit.
Finally, and for the sake of our discussion, I want to use a definition by Gee (1996) and a group of experts. They simply define a destination as a final stopping point which has a tourist attraction with supporting facilities. I like this one because it speaks to the Ghanaian situation since our tourism industry is still in a developing stage.
This last explanation emphasises the need for facilities, services and systems that complement the tourist attraction or group of attractions.
A destination can be anything from a nation to a region, a resort to a city, and can contain one or many attractions or hold annual or one-off events.
From all the points of view above, it can be deduced that a tourist attraction is not a destination. Rather, a tourism destination must include a tourist attraction.
A classic example is an experience I had long ago while doing my national service in the Upper East Region. My work with the then Tourist Board sent me to Yarigungu, a community about 10 km from Bawku.
The Yarigungu area is enclosed by a lovely chain of hills. This stretch of highland is complemented with a river which flows below. And in the river are hordes of crocodiles. To top it up, there’s a fantastic local legend that connects the hills, the river and the crocs. At Yarigungu, the scenery is enhanced by the presence of snow-white cattle egret. As a matter of fact, the scenery actually reminds you of Ecuador as shown in travel magazines.
Unfortunately, this attraction has a long way to go. The entire location is surrounded by bush and there is practically no access road. The description above is a good example of a tourist site that is not a tourism destination.
Indeed, though endowed with natural beauty, it is not even a tourist attraction because as far as I know, visitors do not go there for sight-seeing. Additionally, Yarigungu hardly gets mentioned in the list of national attractions. For now it is only a potential.
The tourist destination is related to another concept known as the tourism product. For now we would concern ourselves with the features of a destination. Historical sites are often considered tourist destination.
Generally, something of some sort of historical significance happened in these areas. Monuments and battlegrounds can be considered historical tourist attractions.
In Ghana landmarks such as Dodowa Forest and Feyiase, where Ntim Gyakari fell, are good examples of historical tourist destinations.
Areas with beautiful or unusual natural creations can also be considered tourist destinations. Visitors to these areas are usually able to see amazing natural wonders, such as waterfalls.
Some buildings may also attract tourists.
A building that is unusually high or oddly shaped might be considered a tourist attraction. The Empire State Building in New York City is a good example of a building that is also a popular tourist destination. Built in 1931, this 102-storey building was once the tallest in the world.
But buildings do not need to be ultra-modern to become an attraction. Traditional architecture are also of interest; an example being the vintage Ashanti traditional houses.
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An amusement park is also often a tourist destination, especially if it is very large. Cedar Point, for example, is a very popular amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. It features many rides, games and other attractions that draw tourists.
Novelty tourist attractions are tourist attractions that usually feature small but unusual items of interest. These types of attractions are not usually primary destinations, and they are sometimes referred to as road-side attractions.
Destinations can be categorised by geographical features as in the following: Urban Tourism; a growing interest in cultural activities eg. theatres, museums and art galleries, as well as in historical and modern architecture, combined with the appeal of shopping as a leisure activity, has seen urban destinations thrive across many countries.
Low fares and no frills airline services provide easy access for new markets (different travellers) to a growing number of cities or provincial towns. While larger cities have the ability to absorb large numbers of tourists, smaller, highly populated cities/towns such as Oxford and Cambridge, in England can suffer from severe congestion in summer.
Urban renewal and destination regeneration are another way for towns or cities which were prosperous but have since gone into decline to reinvent themselves. A good example is Glasgow - which was once the centre for heavy engineering - ship building, until the yards were closed and the city suffered severe decline. Since then it has had and continues to have, extensive renewal.
Coastal and Resort Tourism. This includes the stereotypical tourism environment - sand, sea and surf. Whether it is sitting in a deckchair or lying on the beach, watching the sea or taking part in more physically active water sports - surfing, windsurfing, snorkelling/scuba diving - beach tourism remains popular.
Rural Tourism. The countryside offers a different holiday experience from urban or coastal tourism. Although admired by artists for many centuries, the widespread appeal of country/rural areas is of relatively recent origin.
Congestion and pollution (19th century) made life unbearable in the big cities and escape to the country came first for those in the aristocratic circles, merchants and then the labouring classes.
Rural Tourism encompasses a huge range of activities, natural or manmade attractions, amenities and facilities, transportation, marketing and information systems.
Rural tourism allows travellers to visit areas outside of urban areas. Options include hiking and biking, visiting community museums and buying locally produced crafts.
It is increasingly being used as a development strategy to improve the social and economic well-being of rural areas.
The outback of Australia, for instance, is a harsh area where workers are sometimes hard to find so employers are looking to the backpacker market to fill their needs. And for special interest travellers it’s a way to pay for your holiday.
And in Nicaragua, tourists visiting rural areas support locals by helping with harvesting of their crops and in return they stay at local homes and are treated like one of the family.
Kofi Akpabli is author of Tickling the Ghanaian- Encounters with Contemporary Culture and A Sense of Savannah-Tales of a Friendly Walk through Northern Ghana.
