Course 2: Tourism Destinations
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COURSE 2: TOURISM DESTINATIONS BLOCK 1 : GLOBAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS Unit 1 : Leading Global Tourism Destinations ................... 3 Unit 2 : Must-See Threatened Toursist Spots ...................... 63 Unit 3 : Tourism Trivia ........................................................ 121 Centre for Environmental Law, WWF-India National Law University, Delhi 172-B, Lodi Estate, New Delhi-110003 Sector-14, Dwarka, New Delhi-110078 January, 2013 © CEL, WWF-India & National Law University Delhi, 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, mimeography or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the copyrighters, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Unit Compilation Ramya Iyer, CEL, WWF-India Course Advisor & Editor Moulika Arabhi , CEL, WWF- India Proofreading Laser Composition Neeru, Independent Consultant Tessa Media & Computers, New Delhi UNIT 1 LEADING GLOBAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS Contents 1. Introduction 2. Tourism Across the Continents 3. Top Tourism Destinations Across the Globe 1. INTRODUCTION Over the decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. Modern tourism is closely linked to development and encompasses a growing number of new destinations. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver for socio-economic progress. Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, food products or automobiles. Tourism has become one of the major players in international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income sources for many developing countries. This growth goes hand in hand with an increasing diversification and competition among destinations. This global spread of tourism in industrialised and developed states has produced economic and employment benefits in many related sectors — from construction to agriculture or telecommunications. The contribution of tourism to economic well-being depends on the quality and the revenues of the tourism offer. There are a number of benefits of tourism for both the tourist and the host destination. On a large scale it offers a good alternative to some more destructive industries for generating income both on nationally and privately. The tourism industry encompasses many different areas, so it also creates jobs in many different areas. With tourism comes hotels, resturants, car rental agencies, tour companies, service stations, souvenier shops, sports equipment rentals and much more. All of this creates many different levels of employment for people in a given community. In many places the introduction and development of tourism allows local people an opportunity for economic and educational growth that would not otherwise be available. In addition, it allows both the tourist and the local community a chance to experience other cultures, which broadens understanding. -3- GLOBAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS If properly used, tourism generated income can be tremendously beneficial to the host country and it’s local communities. Tourism generated income can be used on a national and local level to better education, improve infrastructure, to fund conservation efforts, and to promote more responsible tourism. 2. TOURISM ACROSS THE CONTINENTS Over time, an ever increasing number of destinations have opened up and invested in tourism development, turning modern tourism into a key driver of socio-economic progress through the creation of jobs and enterprises, infrastructure development and the export revenues earned. Our world is such a diverse place, that every continent and country has something unique to offer. All the different continents have their own specialties and choosing the best can be quite difficult. The seven continents, namely: Asia, America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Antarctica, have such distinct features and attractions, that it can be tough to decide which ones are the Top Continents to Visit. While Europe is famous for its architecture, Australia is a paradise for beach lovers. Africa is the land of wildlife and North America offers the ultimate western experience. Destination diversity offered by Asia is hard to find at any other continent while south America is famous for diverse cultural as well as natural diversity. The countries in Asia continent, China and India, have rich historical and cultural heritage. The 7 continents in order of size are: 1) Asia - 43,810,000 km2 2) Africa - 30,370,000 km2 3) North America - 24,490,000 km2 4) South America - 17,840,000 km2 5) Antarctica - 13,720,000 km2 6) Europe - 10,180,000 km2 7) Australia - 7,692,024 km2 Let us examine the status of tourism industry in brief in each of the continents. 1) Asia – Covering a full one-third of our planet’s surface makes Asia the largest continent on earth. From sparkling lakes and meandering rivers to towering majestic mountain ranges and dense forests Asian Tourism promises an experience to last a life time. -4- LEADING GLOABL TOURISM DESTINATIONS For convenience, Asia can be divided into the following sub-regions: a) Central Asia – Central Asia is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. It is also sometimes referred to as Middle Asia, and, colloquially, “the stans” (as the five countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix “-stan”, meaning “land of ”) and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent. In modern contexts, all definitions of Central Asia include these five republics of the former Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Other areas sometimes included are Afghanistan, Mongolia, eastern Iran and northern and western Pakistan, and sometimes Xinjiang and Tibet in western China and southern Siberia in western Russia. b) East Asia – East Asia geographically and geopolitically covers about 12,000,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi), or about 28 per cent of the Asian continent, about 15 per cent bigger than the area of Europe. More than 1.5 billion people, about 38 per cent of the population -5- GLOBAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS of Asia or 22 per cent of all the people in the world, live in East Asia. The region is one of the world’s most populated places, with a population density of 133 inhabitants per square kilometer (340 /sq mi), being about three times the world average of 45 /km2 (120 /sq mi), although Mongolia has the lowest population density of a sovereign state. It ranks second in population only to Southern Asia. As per definitions of UN, subregion of Eastern Asia contains the entirety of the China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia and Republic of China (Taiwan). Culturally, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are commonly seen as being encompassed by cultural East Asia. In business and economics, East Asia has been used to refer to a wide geographical area covering ten countries in ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, and Republic of China (Taiwan). c) North Asia – This region consists of the Asian portion of Russia. d) South Asia – South Asia or Southern Asia or Indian Subcontinent is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities, also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as the Indian subcontinent south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land (clockwise, from west) by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Different sources vary in their statements of which nations are part of the region. For example, according to the United Nations geographical region classification, Southern Asia comprises the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. However, the United Nations notes that the “assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories.” By some definitions, some of those nations are not part of the region, and by some definitions, Iran, Burma and Tibet are also included in the region (see below). South Asia is home to well over one fifth of the world’s population, making it both the most populous and the most densely populated geographical region in the world. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic cooperation organisation in the region. e) Southeast Asia – Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia.[citation needed] The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic and volcanic activity. Southeast Asia consists of -6- LEADING GLOABL TOURISM DESTINATIONS two geographic regions: Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as Indochina, comprises Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia, and Maritime Southeast Asia comprises Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, Christmas Island