By Seana Gormally ‘Goz’
An Introduction to the specialist tourism market
In this blog you’ll learn about all types of tourism e.g. and what specialist tourism is and key examples
- Sport tourism
- Adventure tourism
- Health tourism
- Ecotourism
- Hobbies tourism
- Educational tourism
- Other e.g. disaster tourism, volunteering
Sport tourism – Sports tourism is traveling from one region, country, state, etc. to another in order to watch a sports competition or game e.g. skiing, hiking – Commonly refer to somebody travelling around a country or world to watch all different sporting events or even taking part in them , Sports tourism is the fastest growing sector of the global and travel industry.
Adventure tourism – Adventure tourism is a type of tourism in which tourist do some adventures activities like as skydiving, hill climbing, scuba diving, its where it involves tourists going on holiday which involves activities which are physically challenging, Any ages can go on adventure holiday if they are up for a thrill seeking holiday for example bungee jumping off a bridge. There are thousands of tour operators who create adventure tourism packages which suit those tourists who want to go, these operators are TUI
What types of adventure tourism is there?
- White water rafting
- Bungee jumping
- Cycling
- Treks
- Mountaineering
- Canoeing
- Kayaking
Health tourism – Medical tourism refers to people traveling abroad to obtain medical treatment. In the past, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed countries to major medical centres in highly developed countries for treatment unavailable at home – For example travelling to Poland to have a boob job or even travelling to turkey to have your teeth done – it could even include travelling to improve health or fitness
Ecotourism – Tourism directed towards exotic, often threatened, natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife – for example visiting Costa Rica – as shown below , It is linked to nature tourism and involves visiting all different eco area and nature sightings
Photo by Jose Acevedo on Pexels.com
Hobbies tourism – Backpacking, Hiking, Mountain biking – Its like adventure tourism Adventure travel is a type of niche tourism, involving exploration or travel with a certain degree of risk, and which may require special skills and physical exertion
Educational tourism – Educational tourism is one of the forms of tourism, and is a way to give best education to students learning and to enhance knowledge e.g. taking a trip to Barcelona where it has delicious food and traditional architecture as far as the eye can see. Littered with historical buildings and unfinished masterpieces, You will be spoilt with a huge selection of sights, artwork and museums – going away to another country and going to geographical areas or history of the destination – or even the students going to look at the art, architecture , religion and gain knowledge on it
Places people go for Educational tourism
These are just some examples of the different popular cultural destination where i’ve experienced myself or where i’ve had suggestions
- Turkey
- Germany
- Greece
- Egypt
Other /Dark tourism – tourism that involves travelling to places associated with death and suffering e.g. visiting the 911 memorial site – Even visiting Chernobyl is classed as dark tourism and their are specific tour guides what let you visit for an amount of time (https://www.getyourguide.co.uk/-l87308/?cmp=ga&campaign_id=6476517119&adgroup_id=78438894235&target_id=kwd-24545024459&loc_physical_ms=1006984&match_type=b&ad_id=382451044227&keyword=+chernobyl&ad_position=1t2&feed_item_id=&placement=&partner_id=CD951&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIidDXmoPb5wIVibTtCh1vjQnDEAAYAiAAEgKDEPD_BwE&utm_force=0)
Other disaster tourism – Disaster tourism has been defined as the practice of visiting locations at which an environmental disaster, either natural or man-made, has occurred. Although a variety of disasters are the subject of subsequent disaster tourism, the most common disaster tourist sites are the areas surrounding volcanic eruptions
Other volunteering tourism – Volunteering is when people volunteer overseas while they travel. … But unlike eco-tourism, volunteering is aimed at helping other people rather than helping the environment. Volunteering involves tourists going on vacation or rather, missions to help out on a particular project e.g. helping children learn in Costa Rica
Statistics
Health tourism
From 2008 found that between 60,000 and 85,000 medical tourists were traveling to the United States for the purpose of receiving in-patient medical care. – India is now considered one of the leading countries promoting medical tourism and even does medical outsourcing, where subcontractors provide services to the overburdened medical care systems in western countries. India’s top-rated education system is churning out an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 doctors and nurses each year. (https://humankinetics.me/2019/04/04/the-remarkable-growth-of-sport-tourism/)
Places commonly travel for health fitness are – USA, Australia, Thailand, South East Asia, Canada, Turkey, Ukraine , Poland
What Treatments can you get
- Dental trips
- Hair implants
- Botox cosmetic
- Hip replacement
- Gender reassignment
- Fertility treatments
USA – Breast augmentation. Breast augmentations use either breast implants or a fat transfer to increase breast size. Liposuction, Nose reshaping, Eyelid surgery, Tummy tuck, Facelift, Breast lift Dermabrasion (https://www.insider.com/most-popular-plastic-surgeries-united-states-2018-3)
Australia – Breast augmentation and implants. Rhinoplasty. Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty) Facelift. (https://www.costhetics.com.au/news/definitive-price-guide-to-cosmetic-surgery-in-australia/)
Thailand – facelifts, chin augmentations, arm lifts, neck lifts, breast implants, hair transplants, brow lifts, dental work and tummy tucks. (https://www.ofx.com/en-us/blog/best-cosmetic-surgery-thailand/)
South East Asia – Tummy tucks, eyelid lifts and chin liposuction are just some of the packages, Marketing medical and dental services at rock bottom prices (https://www.iexplore.com/articles/activity-guides/medical-and-surgical/top-10-asia-far-east)
Canada – For men, the most popular procedures include liposuction, nose reshaping, and eyelid surgery. The popular non-surgical procedures (among men and women combined) are Botox ® injectable fillers, and laser hair removal (https://bodyandhealth.canada.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/the-cosmetic-surgery-attraction)
Sports tourism
As of this article it states that Sports tourism is the fastest growing market – Cities and nations wager millions to stage sporting events such as a World Cup, the Olympics or the UEFA Champions League Final. In return, cities expect millions more from sponsors, developers and visitors. The estimated size of the global sport industry is $1.7 trillion https://humankinetics.me/2019/04/04/the-remarkable-growth-of-sport-tourism/
The development of specialist tourism
Special interest tourism (SIT) is the provision of customised tourism activities that caters to the specific interests of groups and individuals. In this case, tourism is undertaken to satisfy a particular interest or need.
Clients engaged with SIT are seeking to learn more, enrich their awareness, and express themselves. They expect high standards of service and individualised focus. Many wish to travel in an environmentally sound manner and to have authentic experiences be they: cultural, social or environmental, in which they have a positive engagement with the host community. The range of special interest tours is enormous. It may range from a women’s only trek down the ‘Larapinta’ Track in outback Australia to a bike tour of one of France’s wine growing regions where it is possible to meet those responsible for the production of the wine being sampled, or from gay-only resorts to whale watching in Antarctica. One way of classifying different types of tourism is according to the dominant interest or reason that causes people to travel. If a tourism manager understands why a person or group of people are travelling to a particular destination, they can then design a package of services tailored to support that reason for travelling. Some travel aims or categories of tourists occur often enough that tourism providers have found it profitable to establish packages specifically tailored to cater to them. Others may require special packages or arrangements that will meet their distinctive, particular needs. (https://www.acsedu.co.uk/Info/Hospitality-and-Tourism/Tourism/Special-Interest-Tourism.aspx)
- Socioeconomic
- Self-actualisation
- Expectations of tailor made holidays and high service level
- Trends
- Have led to the following developments:
- Mass tourism to specialist tourism
- Growth of special interest tour operators
- Packaged to un-packaged
- Increased market segmentation
- Response to social change and trends
- Access to new locations
- Role of budget airlines
Socioeconomic –
- Disposable income – Disposable income is where after the end of the month and all the bills have been paid – People are realising that they have more money left over and they are able to go on more holidays
- Leisure time – More people find they have more leisure time, whether this is from early retirement and people want to get more out of their time or some people are now getting paid holidays so people are less worried about how many holidays they are taking off and knowing that they will have money when they come back. Gap years are also becoming increasingly popular where people are taking a year out to just travel and let off some steam before starting out in “real life”
- Status – People are now going on holidays to improve their social status because they want to look good this could mean going on holiday to a destination that is a celebrity hotspot
- Cash Rich = Time Poor – This is where people in high paid jobs for example if you are a lawyer you probably have lots of money but little time to spend it on going on holidays. As they don’t have a lot of time it might be easier for them to use private jets and they may want to go to locations that are quiet and exclusive therefore they can go all year round which has led to the development of specialist tourism because wealthy people may have little time although they are willing to spend that extra bit of money to go on a short break.
- Desire for new changes – Due to the development of the internet and all the different types of specialist holidays that are available people are becoming more aware and more daring to try new challenges than what used to be available
Self Actualisation – According to Maslow’s hierarchy there are basic needs in people’s lives mainly steps that people tend to need to accomplish before they are happy with their lives – When they have reached the point of self actualisation – figured out what they need and how they are as a person, the tourist will want to branch out to new ideas and new holidays
Expectations of tailor made holidays and high level of service – Tourists expect tailor made holidays to be unique experience specialist tourism is tailor made to cater your specific needs where mass tourism is where everyone goes for the same type of holidays – E.g. When going on sun holidays there are now so many different tour operators around the world this triggered a growth in a new market called special interest tour operators
Trends – Cruise, Backpacking, Gap year, Skiing, Ski diving – Active holidays people are having active holidays or having a part of their holiday doing a sport related or adventure related: going scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
As this is a new trend people are responding by wanting to participate and show off to their friends and family, it is a development as tour operators are noticing that people would pay to go on a sport holiday or do a sport activity whilst on holiday.
Trends – Culture holidays -Travelling for a religious reason or educational : such as to go to Jerusalem this is a new location development as people are booking holidays to go learn about different countries culture or increase their knowledge of their own culture and believes, it developed as tour operators only offer the holidays in small groups they can book many groups into going to one destination and make a lot of money whilst doing the tours a well known tour operator would be (Travel bound)
Developments – Growing demand for activity holidays / More people are booking short breaks more need for budget airlines – As more people are wanting to have different types of holidays which means participating in activities. The holidays could be a long weekend of cycling in Spain or golfing in Portugal. Another kind activity holiday is a four day cooking courses in Italy. Having an increasing demand for tour operators to offer short breaks as people only want to go away for a few days at a time. The tour operators who already offer short breaks (British Airways and Booking.com for example) have already got an advantage over their competition – The tour operators who already offer short breaks could be a budget airline (Easy Jet or Ryanair), people would book their activity holidays with a budget airline. When booking with a cheaper airline it means that they can spend money in booking an activity for a day of the holiday or the whole holiday
Mass tourism to specialist tourism – (https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2137183/six-niche-types-tourist-medical-morbid-which-one-are) Mass tourism is a form of tourism that involves tens of thousands of people going to the same resort often at the same time of year. It is the most popular form of tourism as it is often the cheapest way to holiday, and is often sold as a package holiday. A package deal is one in which all of the tourists needs are catered for by one company (such as Thomas Cook) when they was with us, these needs include travel/flights, activities, accommodation and sometimes food (called full board when all meals are included, half board includes 2 meals a day whilst self-catering means you cook for yourself, Special interest tourism is the provision of customised tourism activities that caters to the specific interests of groups and individuals. In this case, tourism is undertaken to satisfy a particular interest or need. It has been proposed that SIT consists of four main experiences: Rewarding
Growth of special interest tour operators – Package to unpackaged have become a massive increase because people are following trends copying peoples instagram holidays as more people are branching out to new destinations and taking photos and sharing them with the public
Packaged to un-packaged – Packaged holidays have continued to grow in popularity year after year overseas and domestic. 34% of consumers say they booked a package holiday because they wanted an all inclusive holiday because they feel safer and more protected. Although you do not have to buy them in package holidays anymore, some people want complete control over every aspect of their holiday so booking an un-packaged holiday is good for the tourists who want to control their holiday from what company they fly with to which hotel they are staying in – The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 define a ‘package’ as follows:
A package holiday typically is made on the basis of one contract, is sold at an inclusive price and covers all your travel arrangements.This will be clear on your confirmation invoice. Package holidays are required by law under the Package Travel Regulations to be financially protected.The holiday must cover a period of at least 24 hours or involve overnight accommodation.The holiday must consist of a combination of at least two of the following components:
- Transport (for example, flights, trains, coaches and ferries – free transfers from the airport to a hotel would not be included)
- Accommodation (this should be significant – it would include a berth on a cruise ship but not on a cross-channel ferry)
- Other tourist services that form a significant proportion of the package (for example, car hire).
Increased market segmentation – By separating customers into segments, you can reach them with content specific to their preferences. Each segment will have different characteristics that will help you speak to them. These include age, gender, income, location, shopping habits, and much more. Besides boosting sales, market segmentation can also teach you a lot about your business. By tracking performance and connecting with customers, you can learn valuable lessons about your products and services and customers. When you think like the customer and deliver content that meets their needs, they will respond. The best way to do this is to keep a growing database of customer information. Such a database will enable you to provide the most suitable content to customers at each interaction.
Response to social change and trends – The Travel and Tourism industry is constantly changing and must respond to the factors and trends that affect the industry. Here I will review three trends and three factors that are currently affecting the travel and tourism sector. Then I will explain to you, the reader, how developments, trends and factors are currently having a significant effect on the travel and tourism sector. Shorter working hours, less physically demanding work and better education have resulted in demand for a higher quality tourism product and a much wider range of tourist destinations and activities. The main emphasis in leisure use has shifted from rest to entertainment with a recent further development towards activity and learning holidays. Activities, experiences, participation and learning will be key elements in the future.
Access to new locations – (https://www.visitbritain.org/developing-accessible-destinations) In March, Thai authorities announced they were closing the country’s famed Maya Bay to allow it a brief respite. The secluded cove – with translucent waters, white sands and limestone cliffs – shot to fame as the picturesque setting for The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Since then between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors have been turning up on its shores daily. Experts have said ‘77% of Maya Bay’s coral is at serious risk’ , mainly from damage by boat anchors. The planned four-month break this year – from June to September – cannot fix that (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-43700833) This is a serious matter as people have found this island and over populated this area and caused damage to it with damage by boats and the anchors in the sea/coral
Role of budget airlines – They offer bargain fares. Budget airlines usually land at and take off from secondary airports they do not provide inflight meals or refreshments and may not even have numbered seat allocation – just find a seat and fasten yourself in. Their ticket prices with be fixed and non refundable in case of a cancellation or no-show. also called a ‘no-frills airline’.
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