Tourism in the UK

Learning Objectives:
To assess the importance of the tourism industry in the UK To describe and explain the changes in tourism numbers in the UK

Tourism in the UK is changing. It has been changing ever since the beginning of the package holiday in the 1950s. Almost all of UK tourism used to be domestic, which means people from the UK holidaying in the UK: only the wealthy and privileged were able to go abroad. Have a look at the graph on page 238. Describe and explain what is happening. Be sure to discuss the 3 sources of information. OK, so the balance between UK and foreign holidays has changed since the 1990s and more and more people are now holidaying abroad (but what about the past 3-4 years with the economic recession?). But, the domestic tourist industry in the UK is still worth over 65 billion (2008). And on top of that, foreign tourists to the UK spend an additional 20 billion every year in the UK: so, tourism in the UK is still worth a lot of money and is extremely important to the UKs economy.

In 1999, this is what Prime Minister Tony Blair said regarding UK tourism: Britain has been a key tourist destination for many years one of the most popular in the world. Almost 26 million people arrive here every year to see what Britain is about. London is one of the worlds favourite cities. But the challenge facing us now is to create a competitive, world-class tourism industry in Britain. We must have a tourism industry which provides affordable quality, which is open to all and which makes the best use of Britains resources. And a tourism industry which concentrates on our key resource people.

Why do you think Tony Blair felt the need to say this. And what do you think he should have done. If you were in his position in 1999, what would you have done?

Sometimes, the number of tourists that the UK receives, or the number of tourists that leave the UK for foreign holidays, is not in the control of the governments. These are called external factors.
What external factors can you think of?
Did you get:

weather terrorism economic situation (eg. recession and exchange rates) natural hazards (earthquakes/volcanic eruptions etc) competition of similar destinations any more???

Using your copy of the graph on page 238, continue the lines to show what you think has happened to tourist numbers and annotate it with external factors that may have affected the UKs tourism industry. Hint: the text on page 238 will help you.

So, where are the main tourist areas in the UK?

Remember the main types of holidays that people take and the main types of tourist area from a couple of lessons ago. On one of your UK maps, using an atlas if you need, label on where you think the main tourist areas are in the UK. Try to get at least 10! Now, were going to complete another UK map to show where the actual tourist areas are. Use figure 3 on page 239 in your books to complete your map. You will also need to add in London, Whitley Bay and any other cities/places that you think will attract tourists.

Recap: Read the text from the title Which are the tourist areas in the UK? and answer Question 2 on page 239.

Plenary:

SPLAT!
Youre going to see a load of words up on the board. Individually, you must come up with a definition for them, in relation to tourism. There are also some spaces for you to add your own key words if you can think of any more. Some people will come to the front (maybe boys v girls?) and try to splat the correct words when the definitions are read out. The first person to splat, wins!

Tourism

Infrastructu re
Purpose-Built Destination Multiplier Effect

Mass Tourism
Tourist Receipts

Economic

Destination Direct Employment Cities, Mountains, Coasts

Recession Indirect Employment Seaside

Tony Blair

Business Holiday