Turismo | Course Paper

CHAPTER 8

Attractions,

Entertainment,

Recreation, and Other

Examine the attractions sphere.

Look at the role of theme parks.

Understand the gaming industry.

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Describe public and commercial recreation

facilities.

Recognize shopping as a travel attraction.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Preserved castles, mansions, and gardens are a popular tourist attraction throughout Europe. Shown here is

Egeskov Castle in Funen, Denmark.

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INTRODUCTION

One can make the argument that attractions are the reason people travel. If so, attrac-

tions are the most important component in the tourism system; and a case could be

made that because of their importance in the tourism system, they should be cov-

ered in Chapter 1 rather than Chapter 8. There is no doubt that attractions are the

main motivators for travel. Without attractions drawing tourists to destinations, there

would be little need for all other tourism services such as transportation, lodging, food,

distribution, and so on. However, as important as attractions are in motivating the

tourist to travel, the attraction frequently receives the smallest portion of the tourist ’ s

expenditure. An example is the ski resort that sells only the lift ticket providing uphill

transportation. This expenditure is the smallest of the travel experience, with the most

expenditures going for air transportation, lodging, and food.

The list of attractions is extensive, and in many cases it is a combination of attrac-

tions that brings the tourist to a destination area. The opportunities for sightseeing,

shopping, entertainment, gaming, culture, and recreation play an important role in

determining the competitiveness of a destination. Figure 8.1 extracts the operating

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Travel Trade

Sector

Accommodation

Sector

Transportation

Sector

Entertainment

Sector

Tourism

Services

Events Sector

Attractions Sector

Adventure &

Outdoor Recreation

Food Services

Sector

Figure 8.1 Operating sectors of the tourism industry: attractions, events, adventure, and entertainment.

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214  Chapter 8 Attractions, Entertainment, Recreation, and Other

sectors from Figure 1.2 and shows that attractions, events, adventure and outdoor rec-

reation, and entertainment are important supply components.

ATTRACTIONS

Attractions can be classiﬁ ed in a number of ways (see Figure 8.2 ). One of the catego-

ries that ﬁ rst comes to mind is theme or amusement parks. The roots of these attrac-

tions go back to medieval Europe, when pleasure gardens were created. These gardens

were the forerunner of today ’ s parks, featuring rides, ﬁ reworks, dancing, and games.

Today, theme parks are high – proﬁ le attractions made famous by Disney, Universal

Studios, Busch Gardens, and others. They represent multimillion – dollar investments.

Natural attractions are the “ mainsprings ” that drive many people to travel. The

great national parks of the United States and other countries, such as those in Canada,

India, Australia, and Japan, are examples. National forests in the United States attract

millions of recreationists. State parks exist in many areas that have tourist appeal.

Attractions

Cultural

Attractions

Natural

Attractions

Entertainment

Attractions

Events Recreation

Historical

Sites

Architectural

Sites

Architecture

Cuisine

Monuments

Industrial

Sites

Museums

Ethnic

Concerts

Theater

Landscape

Seascape

Parks

Mountains

Flora

Fauna

Coasts

Islands

Megaevents

Community

Events

Festivals

Religious

Events

Sports

Events

Trade

Events

Corporate

Sight-seeing

Golf

Swimming

Tennis

Hiking

Biking

Snow Sports

Theme Parks

Amusement

Parks

Casinos

Cinemas

Shopping

Facilities

Performing

Arts Centers

Sports

Complexes

Figure 8.2 Overview of attractions.

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The same is true for botanical, zoological, mountain, and seaside parks. Thus, these

natural wonders lure travelers to enjoy the natural beauty, recreation, and inspiration

that they provide.

Heritage attractions (such as historic sites) and prehistoric and archaeological

sites (such as the ancient monuments of Egypt, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Indonesia, India,

Mexico, and Peru) also have appeal for those inspired to learn more about contempo-

rary and long – vanished civilizations.

Recreation attractions maintain and provide access to indoor and outdoor facili-

ties where people can participate in sports and other recreational activities. Examples

include swimming pools, bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, golf courses, ski resorts, hik-

ing trails, bicycle paths, and marinas.

Commercial attractions are retail operations dealing in gifts, handcrafted goods, art,

and souvenirs that attract tourists. Recent surveys show that shopping is the number –

one activity participated in by both domestic and international visitors.

Industrial attractions cannot be overlooked. Wineries and breweries have long

been tourist attractions. Factory tours are growing in number, and manufacturers have

developed elaborate facilities to handle tourists. An example is the Waterford Crystal

Factory in Ireland, which houses a world – class crystal museum.

Great modern cities with their cultural treasures of many sorts provide powerful

attractions to millions of visitors each year. Sightseeing tours are provided in most

cities, giving easy access to the city ’ s attractions. Theaters, museums, special build-

ings, zoos, aquariums, cultural events, festivals, shopping, and dining are some of the

appeals.

Entertainment has become a powerful magnet. Musical entertainment has put

Nashville, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri, on the map.

The Attractions Industry

The attractions industry consists of ﬁ xed – location amusement parks and attrac-

tions in the United States and other countries. They are primarily private businesses,

although there are a number of publicly operated facilities. Amusement parks and

attractions in the United States generate approximately $11.5 billion in annual rev-

enues. Approximately 500,000 people are employed year round/seasonally by the

industry in the United States, and over 335 million people visited amusement parks

and attractions, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and

Attractions (IAAPA).

The attractions industry is dominated by Disneyland and Walt Disney World, which

have been two of the most successful attractions ever developed. However, while

theme parks are a major tourist attraction, there are more than ten thousand natural

scenic, historic, cultural, and entertainment attractions that appeal to travelers in the

United States. Attractions include not only theme parks but also the entertainment

park, amusement park, animal park, museum, scenic railway, historic village, preserved

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216  Chapter 8 Attractions, Entertainment, Recreation, and Other

mansion, scenic cruise, natural wonder, restaurant, music festival, industry exhibit, cave,

theater, historic farm, scenic overlook, resort complex, historic site, botanical garden,

arboretum, plantation, hall of fame, water show, zoo, sports complex, cultural center,

state park, national park, county park, outdoor theater, Native American reservation,

and transportation exhibit.

Theme Parks

The theme park business has enjoyed spectacular expansion since the opening of

Disneyland in 1955 in Anaheim, California. The opening of Disneyland changed the

local amusement park business considerably because it expanded the concept of

amusement parks from simply rides and carnival barkers to include shows, shops, and

restaurants in theme settings with immaculate cleanliness, promising adventure, his-

tory, science ﬁ ction, and fantasy.

The success of Disneyland brought Walt Disney World, the largest and grandest

theme park in the world, with its Magic Kingdom as the focal point of the resort com-

plex. The Magic Kingdom attracts over 16.0 million visitors annually (see Table 8.1 ).

The Orlando site also has a 7500 – acre conservation project for the preservation of

fauna and wildlife of the Everglades; an experimental prototype community of tomor–

row (EPCOT); the Disney World Showcase, where several nations feature exhibits of

their country ’ s attractions and culture; Disney – MGM Studios; and Pleasure Island. On

January 7, 2008 Disney announced that Disney – MGM Studios would change their

name to Disney Hollywood Studios.

TABLE 8.1 Top U.S. Theme Parks

Rank, 2005 Theme Park and Location Attendance (in millions)

1 The Magic Kingdom , Orlando 16.1

2 Disneyland , Anaheim, California 14.5

3 Epcot , Orlando 9.9

4 Disney – MGM Studios , (now Disney Hollywood Studios), Orlando 8.7

5 Disney ’ s Animal Kingdom , Orlando 8.2

6 Universal Studios , Orlando 6.1

7 Disney ’ s California Adventure , Anaheim 5.8

8 Islands of Adventure at Universal , Orlando 5.7

9 Sea World , Orlando 5.6

1 0 Universal Studios , Los Angeles 4.7

Source: Amusement Business.

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As in the past, the Walt Disney Company ’ s six theme parks hold down the top ﬁ ve

positions in Table 8.1 , accounting for a total of 57.4 million visits. Disney ’ s California

Adventure ranks seventh and recorded another 5.8 million visits. Table 8.2 shows that

Disneyland Paris also leads in European attendance, and shows attendance ﬁ gures for

leading European theme parks. Large theme parks are located around the world. Everland

and Lotte World in South Korea draw 7.5 million and 6.2 million visitors, respectively.

Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise and Nagashima Spa Land in Japan attract 5.3 million

and 3.8 million visitors annually. Ocean Park in Hong Kong attracts 4.0 million people.

Tokyo Disneyland draws 13.0 million, and Tokyo Disney Sea draws 12.0 million.

As would be expected, the success of the Disney theme parks brought imitators

and large corporations to the business. In addition to those listed in Table 8.1 , other

prominent theme parks in the United States are Sea World in San Antonio, Texas;

Great America, Santa Clara, California; Canada ’ s Wonderland, Toronto, Ontario; Busch

Gardens, Williamsburg, Virginia; and Legoland, Carlsbad, California.

In past years global park attendance ﬁ gures were published in Amusement

Business, which has ceased publication. Now TEA (formerly the Themed Entertainment

Association) in association with Economic Research Associates (ERA) publishes the

TABLE 8.2 Top European Amusement/Theme Park Admissions

Rank, 2005 Park and Location Attendance (in millions)

1 Disneyland Paris 10.2

Marne la Vall é e, France

2 Blackpool Pleasure Beach 6.0

Blackpool, England

3 Tivoli Gardens 4.1

Copenhagen, Denmark

4 Europa – Park 3.9

Rust, Germany

5 Port Adventura 3.4

Salou, Spain

6 De Efteling 3.3

Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands

7 Liseberg 3.2

G ö teborg, Sweden

8 Gardaland 3.1

Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy

9 Bakken 2.6

Klampenborg, Denmark

1 0 Alton Towers 2.4

Staffordshire, England

Source: Amusement Business.

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218  Chapter 8 Attractions, Entertainment, Recreation, and Other

America ’ s ﬁ rst theme park, Knott ’ s Berry

Farm, has 150 acres of rides, live shows,

and family adventures celebrating the lure

and lore of the West. Snoopy is part of

the magic at Knott ’ s. Camp Snoopy is the

ofﬁ cial six – acre home of the Peanuts gang.

Photo courtesy of Knott ’ s Berry Farm. Snoopy

® 1958 United Features Syndicate, Inc.

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