Unit 18

1) VistBritain

VisitBritain is a national tourist board and aim to bring many international Saturday, 12 December 2015tourists into the country and encourage more people to have a holiday in their home country and visit some amazing places without having to go abroad.

In 2007, £1 million into marketing campaign to boost tourism in rural areas and they promoted rural destinations. The campaign was to remind visitors of the appeals of rural areas.

This year, the tourist board launched a three-year campaign which is named ‘Countryside is great’. The main locations the campaign is focusing on is: Yorkshire, Lake District, Peak District, Cotswolds and Cornwall. They also aim to create 1,300 by 2018 in the rural tourism industry. The main aim of the three year campaign is to build interest of rural areas for international visitors as National Parks are not receiving many inbound tourists as they go more to the cities. The VisitBritain website gives information to tourists both inbound and domestic about rural areas whether it be national parks, Coastal areas or just countryside areas. The website also offers advice about where to stay, what to do in the area and where to dine and wine in a rural area. VisitBritain has revenue channels with rural areas, especially with national parks and Coastal areas. They get their money by funding from the government, airlines and tour operators such as British Airways. They also get money by sponsoring premier leagues. The tourist board helps with sustainable tourism as they have a strategy which is focused on promoting businesses which help the environment and the wildlife.  The project is called green start and they are letting the first 500 businesses to join the program for free to learn about how they can become more sustainable and contribute towards tourism.

2) English Heritage

English Heritage looks after over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites. They call on the government and its agencies to ensure that conservation go the natural and historic environment is effectively looked after equally and with the highest level of care. They use advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the sites and they use leaflet campaigns to show the benefits of visiting the heritage sites (being educated).

They have had recent campaigns, with the most recent one in August and gone into the partnership with Cif to make the English surroundings more appealing to inbound and domestic visitors. It will be started next January and the first statue to be cleaned is the Wellington Arch. English Heritage offer information to inbound and domestic visitors via their website, you can type in the name of the place or your postcode and it will bring up results, they also state information on the opening hours and entry fees (if theres any). The website also offers advice by telling you what you can do and expect at a certain location/historic site. English Heritage receive money by their members (pay an annually fee and get access to all the historic and cultural sites). They also get money by donations and if people leave money in their wills.  English Heritage protect the environment by using the history of the area to explaining how the place has changed over the years and the ever-changing area and the environment. They educate the public by having schools go to a site and the visits are free, so children can learn by doing workshops and not at a fee.

3)National Park Authorities

National park authorities look after all the national parks in the country.  They look after the parks for the environment and help people learn about the area and the wildlife.

Their main and ongoing campaign is to protect the finest landscapes of Britain from the public for them to enjoy forever. It has been going on for 80 years. National park authorities give information and advice via the website, each national park has their own link to a separate page about the national parks (how to get there, accommodation, places to eat and drink and what to do once there).They get money by: EU giving them money to promote to European countries, Selling local produce and souvenirs and donations. Another way they are receiving money is by going into partnership with Air Wick, starting last year they made air-freshers inspired by the national parks.As National Park Authorities are all about protecting the environment and wildlife whilst educating people at the same time, therefore the national parks websites, rangers and information centres (leaflets and brochures)

4)Ramblers’ Association

This website is run by volunteers to talk about walking locations in the UK. You can get information and advice by having a newsletter sent via email. You can also learn about places to stay when walking, facts and figures about walking, Places to walk to and around and finally safety concerns when walking.

The association make money by people becoming a member or just people donating online.

They protect the environment and wildlife by telling people where they can and cannot walk, this will prevent foot erosion and harm to animals and their habitats. As part of the information and enforcement, there is a page on their website all about safety and what to do when walking and an accident occurs. Also there is a link to report concerns about a walking area and will alert workers to go and observe.

In this part of the document I will be explain the impacts of tourism by giving a general explanation and then giving examples on two rural areas which I have chosen to be  the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.

Positive Economic Impact - Increased Employment

Tourism was worth £115.4 billion to the UK economy in 2009 and provided around 2.7 million jobs either directly or indirectly. Tourism is a positive impact because it brings money into the host country and helps the government pay and local businesses to keep the money flowing in by keeping up the appearance and keeping the area clean.

Lake District has 15,000 people working in the tourism industry.  Since 2000, tourism related jobs have increased for people working in the national park.

Yorkshire Dales national park employment has always been increasing and this year, the chancellor has vowed to create 2,500 jobs by giving £3.5 million to spent on cultural events.

By increasing this positive impact more people are likely to move to the national parks as there is a higher chance of getting a secure job, because the tourism sector is always growing and the responsible tourism part is becoming more known from people and wanting to help the environment for now and in the future years.

The techniques are proven successful as more people living around the areas of the national park, as they can get a job working in the national park, this will improve the local economy, no jealousy between local people and outsiders and also reduce air pollution as workers will not be travelling as far to attend their job every day 

Negative Economic Impact - Increased Living Costs

When a tourists arrive in areas, particularly a developing area, they can have an impact on costs. Restaurateurs find that tourists are able to pay higher prices than locals so can put prices up. The supermarkets and local shops will be charging more as they may ship in produce to please the tourists and the local residents can no longer afford the things they need to have and will may have to move to a place where there is a low number of tourists.

Both of the national parks suffer from higher living costs via the for ever increasing prices of houses. This is because people are buying houses and their second houses near national parks for personal benefits including many health benefits.

Lake District suffers from increased living costs by nearly 11 time more than it is in other areas which are not near national parks and in the last ten years house prices have increased by an extra £10 thousand. People wanting to buy houses in the Yorkshire Dales are willing to pay and extra £60 thousand.

By decreasing this impact, more people will possibly want to move to the national parks because of the increasing job opportunities and will benefit the local economy. This will also create a positive working and living environment.

The technique is having a positive success on people buying houses as they are only buying it to live closer to a national park, reducing the numbers of people buying them for second houses/ holiday homes

Positive Environmental Impact - Conservation

Tourism contributes enormously to this conservation in serval way. When a national park is a tourist attraction means it is recognised as warranting preservation and other conservation bodies, provide information and education for tourists.

Lake District has conservation areas so it allows the areas to not change during the constant changes during the environment
Currently in the Yorkshire Dales there are around 40 areas of conservation which are based around the villages.

Yorkshire Dales is trying to keep this positive impact by designating conservation areas with the local community involved to decide which new parts should be conserved and where they need to designate new parts. 

By increasing this positive impact, the national parks will be sustainable for many years without erosion and any harmful effects getting to the areas. Having conservation areas will be beneficial down the line because it means the national parks will still be able to provide for all different customer types and will continuing to generate tourism income in rural areas.

This technique is becoming successful, as the national parks have noticed the growth in the wildlife and people obeying the rules. The technique is popular in other national parks within the UK

Negative Environmental Impact - Pollution of water, air, noise and visual

In coastal resorts, jet skis and motor boats cause noise and air pollution from the petrol fumes produced. The noise cause distress to wildlife and the fumes can destroy marine life. When hotel resorts and destinations are growing, the building of hotels and the whole area can obscure the existing features and visual appearance of an area and the surrounding landscape.

In one if the lakes at the Lake District it is heavily polluted and is causing negative effects on the wildlife in it. Also erosion is a major influence on the environment and slowly over time the trees will loose soil and disappear. In the summertime, the algae rates on the lakes increase and the park rangers have to place signs out telling people not to stay safe around the lake edges.

The Yorkshire Dales has pollution from one contributing factor which is mining but from two areas which are underground and the waste materials which are on the surface.

Lake District National Park Authorities have put certain restrictions in place to prevent pollution from increasing and they are: the speed limit for boats on the lakes which is 5mph  , the park and ride scheme to reduce carbon emission overall and especially in the park.

In 2011, the Yorkshire Dales launched a new scheme that reduces water pollution on the farm land. 

This impact can be decreased by the restrictions that are put in place by the Lake District Park Authorities to help reduce pollution levels of any kind (water, air, noise and visual).

This technique is successful because the national parks have become less polluted and the wildlife is  benefiting from the lower speeds on the lake as they are not being disturbed

Positive Social Impact - Increased standard of living

Regular wages, clean water, effective sewage systems and road and rail networks improve the local’s quality of life, as well as providing facilities for tourists. The income from tourism can help people to improve their livelihoods and gain greater social status.

Both if the national parks have an increased standards of living with the main being phone and Wi-Fi signal. 

Both Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales are increasing the sizes of the their national parks by 3% and 24% near enough joining the two together.  Combined, the national parks have gained over four billion pounds just from tourism alone, and by increasing the size the authorities hope to bring more money in. The expansion will gain peoples attention because it will be creating the largest National Park land in England. This will help all parts of rural life ranging from farming to conservation.

By having this positive impact is means that more people have a better quality of life because the basics (clean water, better electricity and phone reception) have increased and being by a national park it means that even tourists can become healthier as the fresh air will do good.

By having the technique of nearly joining the two national parks creates a bigger area for people to walk around and have more open green spaces

Negative Social Impact - Crime

When tourism number increases, the crime rate of the rural area increases. This is because the tourists carry cameras, smartphones, electrical devices, expensive clothes and jewellery. Tourists may also carry a lot of money making them a high target for criminals to be pick pocketed.

Lake District is known for the crime rate because of all of the holiday and second homes. The burglars work out when the houses are empty and can work out what houses to target next and what they can get out of them. Furthermore in 2010, 12 people got shot and 25 were injured due to a cab driver going on a killing spree and then later shooting himself.

Yorkshire Dales does not have a high crime rate as the only reportable offences are burglary and violent behaviour, but on an extremely low scale.

Lake District try to avoid this impact by reducing crime by telling the tourists not to offend the tourists and not create any conflict between visitors and residents. There are often talks at the visitor centers on about what they can do to help the national park and the surrounding area and the rules and regulations which can make or break the national park.

Yorkshire Dales already has a low crime rate already and that is helped by the authority working in partnership with the local police force to create a pleasant atmosphere

By decreasing this impact, the success is by having tourists visiting the rural areas because of the lowering crime rate due to the techniques that have been put in place to reduce the crime rate and increase rural tourism so people can feel safe when visiting.

This technique, (trying to make tourists and locals to get along) is successful because more tourists visit the national parks as they know they are welcomed

Positive Cultural Impact-preservation of traditional crafts and customs

Tourists often buy locally made handicrafts that are an extra source of income for host communities

Both of the national parks have little shops surrounding the areas selling local goods which are made from local people and creating individual products to buy. Some food coffee shops and independent cafes use locally produced food and drinks from locally farmers when making meals for the customers. 

The national park authorities are all for the use of local produce in the Lake District and at the Yorkshire Dales when serving local residents and people visiting from other countries and from the UK and buying locally made crafts from independent shops and the times being sold in the visitor centres.

By having this positive impact and increasing it means more people will visit if they enjoy and feel important when doing participating in sustainable tourism and also buying products which have been made locally and does not contribute to money leakage therefore benefiting the local economy and the residents (who are the farmers and the creators of the traditional crafts)

The technique of only sourcing local produce and products are benefitting the local businesses as  they are creating good relationships with suppliers and not using big chains of companies. This also is helping the local economy as there is a extreme reduce in money leakage

Negative Cultural Impact - Loss of Cultural Identity

Some tourists want to have a holiday but doing the same things at home but with better weather. This negative development results in a loss of the host destination cultural identity.

Lake District  suffers from losing cultural identity because people are using it t go away for a holiday rather than treating it as a national park and it is becoming a honeypot site (loads of tourists visit it every year)

Yorkshire Dales is also losing their identity by one thing which isn't directly related to the national park and that is changing the A-roads to become motorways allowing people to travel to and from the national park more easily

Lake District try to avoid this impact by keeping the same cultural identity and promoting their identity via their website and the tourist boards. They make people know what Lake District is about the vast distance of open green land with massive lakes for all ages to enjoy as there is a wide range of activities on offer.

Yorkshire Dales attempt to reduce this impact by sending out leaflets and putting information their website boasting about the stunning landscapes and tight knit communities they have on offer for inbound and domestic visitors.

By decreasing the loss of cultural identity it means that the national parks carry on maintaining their positive identity which is vast amounts of green open spaces and the fact that there is lots of activities to do whilst at the park and that visiting the national parks contributes to rural and sustainable tourism.

By having techniques to reduce the loss of cultural identity is successful as the culture of both of the national parks and allows the future generations to identify the culture and historic of the national parks