Leisure Resort Hotels

>Fieldwork Needs and Wants of the Leisure Tourist

Tourism has long been considered as an effective vehicle for development in general, and in island micro-states in particular. Various countries have got some of the fascinating sceneries which attracts the tourist. These areas have got vast qualities that make them attractive which includes the physical potential scale, the conducive environment, the history of heritage and the various diverse traditional craft styles all of which produce a unique traits.

Tourism is playing a vital role in the development and growth of the economy. Urban economy hammered from city economy to the production economy and so historic cities have to compete to one another in order to attract and maintain visitors to these areas or to maximise and to develop market share.

The needs and wants of tourists vary from one guest to another. These needs may be for accommodation, looking for food, or a place to conduct their seminars and work-shops. Leisure guests may want to spend time in an environment that is quite different from their normal place of residence.

They explore places looking for decent accommodation, a variety of quality foods, motivated and pleasant personnel and an efficient service delivered to them. Leisure guests want to experience new things visiting different scenic places and interacting with the local residents and staff in the area that they are visiting. By visiting these hotel/resort centres, they not only relax and rest from their normal regular duties, but also exercise their right and thus enable them to realise their self-esteem. They do this by acquiring new experiences which might not be found from their own home. Their demands increase as they encompass culture and the arts.

They also require sports, entertainment, good food, various products, health among other essentials goods and services.

However, it has been observed that most of the resort/hotel staff does not understand what service or products can best suit this kind of guest. This may be because most of these tourists are coming from a different background hence their taste and preferences are not well understood by these resort personnel. Likewise, some of the owners of these resorts/hotels are not financially stable to provide for some of the luxurious goods and services are quite often demanded by these leisure guests.

Therefore the resort staff should be in a position to understand the needs of their quests. For instance; those leisure guests visiting a historic centre, the atmosphere created by the bars, restaurant, cafes is an important part of experience to them. Thus, these places should be kept attractive and conducive as possible. Visitation of these places by the leisure guests keep a centre active, provide value to them as well as promoting and developing the potential economy of these centres, hence able to attract more investment.

Psychocentric travellers as described by the plog are a self-inhibitive, nervous, and non-adventuresome tourists. Psychocentric leisure tourists prefer going to the familiar places during their travels. Psychocentric has been widely taught and routinely acted as a cornerstone tourism theory and simultaneously viewed as having many flaws.

Basic economic and marketing theory assumes that consumers are rational beings and are able to allocate the scarce resources to fit their personal desires. The purchase of vacation travel requires the expenditure of both money and time as well the commitment of both inventory of physical and psychic energy.

Fieldwork destination (New York Manhatan) and its components sector

Fieldwork is the first hand observations made in the field as opposed to observations done or observed in a controlled environment. The tourists have often sought to explore places for different purposes which ranges from academic to leisure tours. There are increasing numbers of the organization struggling to operate effectively at the intersection between offering quality, purposeful vacation experiences that are not intrusive, exploitation or disruptive to the local people.

This has been one of the biggest achievements completed by the New York Manhattan.

Different themes have been adopted by the various components of the organization to improve the experience of their visitors. Entertainment attractions are one of the major concepts in a fieldwork destination. Manhattan has moved from the concept of amusement parks and fair grounds of former times with no underlying themes into a fantasy-provoking atmosphere.

The key aspect to consider in park development is the image landscape, the location and the markets which both should appeal to the tourist. Reproductive landscape that evokes the known products, events or stories in the public mind is most suitable. A theme park ground is normally modelled based on the tourist interest. Visitor figures are used to determine the required number of attractions. The largest and best parks provide a variety of rides and entertainment for the visitors, with a level of investment that encourages a repeat visit.

A choice modelling approach is another theme that is adopted by different organizations.

The perceived impacts of tourism on host communities and the associated residents’ attitudes towards tourism are an important aspect. The choice modelling approach can be used to identify the trade-offs residents are willing to make with respect to tourism impacts. This allows an estimation of the probability that residents will support a tourism project that generates a specified impact.

The rate at which residents are willing trade the negatives for the positives can be used to evaluate whether potential development in these communities will be beneficial in terms of either being supported by the majority of residents or making a positive contribution to their economic welfare. Market segmentation and the prediction of the tourist behaviours have also been considered as the efforts towards the improvement of the tourist experience. The preferences and the behaviour patterns of the tourist involved relaxation, nature and local culture. Market segmentation seeks to identify some easily identifiable characteristics of which purchasing behaviour of the tourist within the market may be predicted and targeted. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics have long been used as a basis of segmentation.

However, the power of age, gender and wealth to predict purchasing behaviour is fully situation-dependent because they are only indirectly to buying intentions. Backpacker ethnography is a concept of culture which advances the understanding of the tourist.

Such a concept furthers the understanding of a phenomenon that is so vast and diverse. It also displays widespread affinities, behavioural similarities, social interaction that enhances system of meaning and a connection to references.

The culture angles enable the backpackers to be viewed as a social in related category involving both self-perception and peer recognition. Road statures as a key phenomenon for the compression of the backpacker tourism culture comprises of hardship experiences, competence, cheap travels, along with the ability to communicate it properly. For examples clothes and equipment which back home would have been discarded are often mended and used.

The guide books, internet and emails have allowed the individual backpacker to invoke a personal virtual community to supplement face-to-face interactions. This enables a more selective choice of patterns, which a gain facilitates partitioning. The internet has changed the direction of the institutionalized that includes the increase scheduling and planning, flexibility as well as communication. Lastly, telematics opportunities have led to strengthening broader understanding, regional and technological development.

Telematics reduces the importance of the physical distances but does not eliminate the need for face-to face contacts. It is up to the firm to meet the challenge of turning what might seem to be a threat but which adapted to the firms’ local conditions and networks as a prosperous opportunities. The consequences of telematics for remote areas especially have to do with improved accessibility and communication facilities, while the possibilities for change of processes internally in the firms must be assumed to be largely the same irrespective of the location.

The utilization of telecoms in tourism and travel industry especially in remote areas should be given due consideration. The mere fact that hotels may be located in remote areas hardly implies a limitations as to their utilization of telecommunication based information and sale channels.

How the tourist experience can be improved

The tourist experience implies an understanding of tourist behaviour from the tourist’s own frame of reference, rather than the one imposed by the researcher. It is important to clearly understand the needs and wants of the different categories of the tourists so as to be able to deliver services and products as preferred by them. There is a tendency to read representations landscape and experiences on the behaviour of the tourist who reads them as part of their everyday lives.

Conceptualization and the analysis of the culture of the tourist and the consumption of the representations are equally important. 

The conservational research and participation observation to capture tourist knowledge and action are especially required in accordance to the frames of reference preferred by the tourists. Research focusing on the experience of the tourists should be advocated for, where concepts or methods which are useful in understanding the experience and culture of the people being given the first priority. The transport sector should be improved so as to make travel easier.

Resort centres that mostly suit the needs of the rich should be brought up within the range of the middle class people. Water ways, road networks, rails and the airstrips should be well improved. The tourist attraction centre management should ensure the availability of such services like post offices, and banks. This will enable the tourists to either post or receive mail at the same place. They will also be able to deposit or withdraw cash without traveling to another centre whenever the needs arise.

Accommodation should also be established so as to improve tourist destination. Hotels and lodges should be remodelled and refurnished to accommodate the traveling and the resident tourists in the best ways possible. New pleasant homes and hotels should be established to accommodate the sudden growth of the tourism.

Aspect of guides practice should be provided to the tourists to help them experience the country as they explore it. The guide should be in terms of the human personnel or the printed guide book which contains history and the description of the tourist site. The guide book also serves as a geography of the new areas to a nation with little understanding of the new territories. Travel magazines and illustrated promotional literature and the picture postcard collection also influence the tourist experience. It is recommended that management of the tourists, delivering of materials and setting the pace could be improved.

There should be more information on scheduling-information about what will happen during the trip, as well as clear instructions about time schedule and programmes. There is also a need to have more humorous and informative guides.

Guides should try to speak clear English with no dialect.

The development of different destinations such as national parks, historical architecture, and the urban site are much important in influencing the experience of the tourist. The healthiness of the travel activities and mental stimulation added to the success of the travel, alleviates the health problems. The security of the tourist destination is sought after.

Most of the tourists prefer traveling in the secure areas. The security of the place could be improved by employing tourist guides to look into the security measures of the visitors at the site. Improvement of security lights and fencing off the area is equally important. Equipment and vehicles are also important components which should be considered to improve the experience of the tourist. To hear the guide, better technical equipment and working public address system should be provided.

Comfort level in tourist vehicles with more space and seats need to be established. Another factor which is essential in improving the tourist experience is the provision and incorporation of games and other activities.

Fun, socialization, more games and activities in the tour such as on vehicle-based sightseeing tours and canoes tours, more time for swimming and sun-bathing are necessary in improving the experience of the tourist.

Conclusion

Tourism is one of the most economic activities in many countries that contribute a lot to the domestic growth. Tourist sites should be remodelled and refurbished to suit the needs and wants of the tourist. Tourist experiences should be clearly be understand to enable efficient deliverance of service and products to them based on their preference.

Reference

1. Crag, M. (1997) Picturing Practices: research through the tourist gaze. Progress in the Human Geography, 21 (3), 359-373.
2. Douglas, J.D. (1976) Investigate Social Research: Individual and team Field Research. London.
3. Mejlving, M. and K. Halskov (1996) The Internet has grown from the nerds (in Danish only), Jyllands. Poster. April1. Smith, “A Test of Plog’s Allocentric/Psychocentric Model.” S. C. Plog, “A Carpenter’s Tools: An Answer to Stephen L.J. Smith’s Review of Psychocentrism/ Allocentrism,” Journal of Travel Research 29, no. 2 (1990): 43-45.
4. S. L. J. Smith, “Another Look at the Carpenter’s Tools: A Reply to Plog,” Journal of Travel Research 29, no. 2 (1990): 50-51.
5. Plog, “Why Destination Areas Rise and Fall in Popularity: An Update

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