Chapter 7: Visitor Attractions
Overview
Although everyone experiences travel differently, visitor attractions are typically key elements to a tourist itinerary, contributing to a person’s decision to visit a particular destination. Shopping centers, museums, zoos, historic and natural sites, amusement and theme parks, spas, and other attractions also appeal to residents, and their proximity contributes to a resident’s quality of life and a location’s economic vitality.
This chapter discusses the role that attractions play in tourism, addresses the commodification of sites, and explains the significance of visitor attractions more broadly. It also analyzes select types of major attractions, including museums, zoos and aquariums, amusement and theme parks, and industrial attractions. Finally, it identifies potential career paths at these types of attractions.
Objectives
Reading and reviewing this chapter will enable an attentive learner to accomplish the following tasks:
- Explain what the term ‘visitor attraction’ encompasses
- Identify the implications of commodifying certain sites as visitor attractions
- Describe the difference between demand generators and visitor amenities
- Summarize the history of visitor attractions
- Articulate the importance of attractions to a community and to tourism in general
- Compare and contrast the primary goals and operations of most museums, zoos, theme parks, and industrial attractions
- Identify possible career paths for those wishing to work at visitor attractions
Key Terms
- Visitor Attractions
- Day-Trippers
- Commodification
- Tourism Demand
- Demand Generators
- Visitor Amenities
- Taxonomy of Attractions
- Tourism Product
- Museums
- Not-for-Profit
- Research
- Conservation
- Public Exhibition
- Amusement Park
- Theme Park
- Agritourism
- Immersive
- Experiential
- Gamification
- Social and Ethical Awareness
- Accessibile Facilities
Attributions
- Chapter opening image: 20130705 statue of liberty (from boat) by schizoform is released under CC BY 2.0
