Corso di geografia turistica

Unit C1

p.113

• Tourism in China is a growing sector: in the week of the 2011 Chinese New Year alone (which fell on 3 February) as many as 640 million people travelled within the country. However, both the number of Chinese tourists travelling abroad and the number of incoming foreign tourists are also increasing.
• The Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Shanghai Expo in 2010 marked China’s opening up to the world: 53 million visitors were recorded in 2010. It is now expected that, China will become the most popular tourist destination on Earth by 2018. Data regarding the outgoing is significant: if 54 million Chinese went abroad for tourism in 2010, estimates for 2015 are for 130 million. China will be the future star of the global tourism market.
• However, it is difficult to share the mentality of the Chinese, who prefer imaginative and entertaining projects instead of conservative restoration, and see nature as a resource to be exploited rather than a common good to be protected.
• For example, Hainan Island in the South China Sea has been transformed into a giant amusement park with a kitsch style aimed at Westerners; nevertheless the island attracts many international tourists and many tour operators include it in their offers.
• In 2010, a million Chinese tourists arrived in Italy, but our country is not a prime destination due to a series of bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of infrastructure aimed at this type of visitor (for example, few Italian museums provide guides in Mandarin, nor can Chinese newspapers or TV channels be found in hotels, nor can personnel be found at reception who are able to speak the language).

Unit C2

p.119

• The island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean is part of the Mascarene archipelago. In addition to the principal island, the Republic of Mauritius includes the smaller island of Rodrigues and various coral islands.
• In colonial times it was the main Dutch military base in the Indian Ocean, then in the middle of the eighteenth century it was occupied by the French who promoted its economic development. Disputed over with Great Britain, the Treaty of Paris assigned it to this state in 1814, but the population was allowed to maintain its language and religion. Independent since 1968, is has officially been a democratic republic since 1992.
• Mauritius is a concentration of natural beauties: white beaches are lapped by crystal clear water, the coral reef that surrounds the island hosts wonderful species of flora and fauna; in the interior of the island, tropical vegetation alternates with sugar cane and tea plantations as well as the cultivation of anthurium flowers.
• The internal landscape comprises hills and steeper mountains, a waterfall, a lake, the Black River Gorges National Park, and the Pampelmousses Botanical Garden (now called the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanic Garden) where numerous species can be admired, including the giant Victoria Regia water lilies, originally from the Amazon.
• Tourism is the most important part of national GDP: the island promotes itself as an ideal destination for honeymooners, for family holidays, wellness stays (some of the most beautiful spas in the world are to be found here) and sports (all water sports can be practiced here and there are beautiful golf courses), and holidays for lovers of gourmet cuisine (which can be appreciated in various luxury restaurants specialising in international, French and Italian cuisine).

Unit C3

p.125

• The Far West is that part of the territory of the United States west of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the homeland of the Native Americans. Massacred and confined to the so-called “reserves”, they have always affirmed their separate cultural identity and their right to their own land. A growing interest in their culture and struggles has made these reserves the main tourism attractions in large parts of the United States.
• The cradle of the culture of the Native Americans is the Four Corners region, the four corners comprises north-western New Mexico, south-western Colorado, south-eastern Utah and north-eastern Arizona. Spectacular nature, rock formations, canyons, deserts and Monument Valley are the background landscape of the Hopi Reservation and the Navajo Nation, where many tribes live.
• Pueblo are Indian villages that are still inhabited by a small number of families, who live without connections to the outside world, devoting themselves to traditional activities, such as the production of ceramics, textiles, jewellery and embroidery, which are all inspired by the culture and traditions of their ancestors. The circuit dedicated to the pueblo represents an extraordinary resource for tourism in New Mexico and today it is the natives themselves who promote and manage their own territories.
• In the capital, Santa Fe one can admire the buildings of the historic centre that were inspired by the pueblo: built in the adobe style, using clay bricks, sand and straw, they are covered with a layer of red clay, which is the characteristic colour of the city centre .

Unit C4

p.131

• For a long time disputed between Japan and China, Korea was divided in 1948 into two independent countries: North Korea and South Korea. Since the end of the civil war between the two Koreas (1953), a buffer zone separates the two countries, a symbol of completely diverse ways of life.
• North Korea is a socialist republic ruled by a dynastic dictatorship. Little has filtered through the borders about the real conditions of life for North Koreans; poverty and one of the world’s worst situations with regard to civil and human rights exacerbate the effects of total isolation.
• South Korea is reflected in its capital, Seoul. A forest of skyscrapers has been built there in recent decades, where once there were rice paddies and muddy fields that were often flooded by rivers swollen by monsoon rains. Since the 1970s, a profound project of urban development and a technological revolution have transformed life in this country, which today boasts a modern network of roads and motorways, high-speed trains, underground lines, and an astonishing number of shopping centres which are amongst the largest in the world.
• Life in the capital follows the hectic pace of the big Western cities: the people of Seoul often dedicated themselves to shopping in their free time, facilitated by the presence of factories belonging to the major international fashion designers, which have decentralised their production to South Korea where labour still costs less.
• Although with the Olympics of 1998 and the World Cup of 2002, Korea has in fact been inserted into the world’s tourism geography, visitors are still not very numerous, and those that do are mostly from neighbouring Asian countries (China, Japan, Taiwan), whilst Westerners visit Korea primarily for work.

Unit C5

p.137

• By using the large income from the sale of oil and commerce, the United Arab Emirates has been able to create tourism destinations from scratch, which in recent years have attracted millions of people from all over the world, making the UAE an icon of luxury tourism.
• Dubai, the most important city, has been transformed by famous architects and designers into a marvel of modern engineering: its very high towers, bridges, peninsulas and fantastically shaped artificial archipelagos, green golf courses, and snow covered ski slopes in the middle of the desert, have become an allegory of man’s challenge to environment’s limits.
• The capital of the UAE is Abu Dhabi, and like Dubai, it has been promoted as a new tourism destination, offering itself as an ideal destination not just (or not only) for luxury shopping for but also for cultural and sports events.
• A district is in the course of construction which will be a pole of attraction for culture and leisure time activities, which will house the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim, a maritime museum, a performing arts centre and the Abu Dhabi Louvre. A Formula 1 Grand Prix, golf championship, triathlon events, and an off road rally are all aimed at attracting visitors from all over the world. Luxury hospitality need not renounce environmental sustainability: the city has been recognised as one of the ten most sustainable in the world thanks to careful environmental protection policies, which have, amongst other things, preserved large expanses of date palms.

Unit C6

p.143

• Street food, born to satisfy the nutritional needs of populations accustomed to living, and therefore also to cooking, on the street, is now a tourism attraction, which adds interest and incentive to travel, and is a means to discover a people’s culture.
• Food and flavours are often at the centre of themed tourism itineraries: tour operators have specialised in this sector and places have become famous because they are linked to typical products and dishes. In response to increasing food globalisation, a voice is given to those who produce food according to ancient systems linked to the land. Many initiatives, such as the Terra Madre project, born as part of Turin’s Salone del Gusto, are mechanisms to help protect and give the wider public a better understanding of ancient and sustainable culinary traditions that are currently in danger.
• There are many places in the world that attract tourists thanks to street food: Bangkok with its stalls; Marrakech with its improvised tables in the evening; Beijing with the Wangfujing market; and Japanese cities with their banquets of food underneath their cherry trees.
• But if food tells the history of a population, the bond becomes ever more close when it serves to celebrate religious festivals and celebrations. Whether it is the traditional food prepared in Mexico during the Day of the Dead, the soups and desserts prepared in Muslim countries during Ramadan, or the dishes prepared every week for the Jewish Sabbath, food is an irreplaceable instrument for cultural exchange and comparison.

Unit C7

p.149

• Museums, aquariums, natural parks, science centres, and zoos are now tourist destinations with great appeal. Themed exhibitions, events and festivals all contribute to an increase in the attractiveness of these places, so as to attract large numbers of visitors.
• Science museums are now areas where knowledge is explained in a simple way, sometimes also giving the visitor the possibility to interact with the instruments exhibited and to experiment directly with what is on show, in such a way as to make education entertaining – edutainment. Hence science parks, like the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, offer tourists the opportunity to visit the places where many extraordinary Nobel Prize winning scientific discoveries have been made.
• The great interest in the animal world explains the success of aquariums, natural parks and organised tours that closely follow the movements of wolves (in North Carolina), whales (whale watching), and polar bears (in Canada). These forms of tourism have brought benefits to the local economy, promoting the development of hotels, handicrafts, transport systems and leisure facilities for visitors.

Unit C8

p.155

• In 2001, newspapers reported the first journey into space by a paying tourist. The Russians, Americans and Spanish have already started planning futuristic hotels amongst the stars and orbiting stations: the first should be ready and open to private individuals who want to use it for study or pleasure by 2016 (if they’re willing to pay huge sums of money).
• Meanwhile, for a reasonable amount it is possible to experience the thrill of the life of an astronaut by visiting the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Here a visitor can closely observe the spacecraft and the technology that created them; to view images taken by the Hubble telescope in 3D; whilst a short stay inside a life size reproduction a space shuttle enables one to experience the sensations of a space launch. And in New Mexico the opening of the first tourism spaceport prepared for takeoff and landing of outward and inward bound aircraft from space is close at hand.
• For fans of the stars, astronomical observatories also exert a great fascination. Situated in isolated locations, far from the chaos and lights of civilization, to escape light pollution, they show visitors the environment in which astronomers live and work. The most famous observatories that can be visited are located in Arizona (Kitt Peak National Observatory at Sonora), in the Caribbean (Arecibo) and, in Europe, the Canary Islands (Roque de los Muchachos).

Unit C9

p.161

• An increasing number of people now choose to travel abroad to obtain a specialised health service at a lower cost than the rates charged in their own country. Upon arrival, patients become tourists in all respects, and therefore make use of the infrastructure available in the area. A new type of tourism is now being discussed, called health tourism.
• Plastic surgery, simple dental services, organ transplantation, fertility treatment, and IVF treatment: there are many health reasons that led almost 6 million people worldwide to leave their own country in 2010 to realise a dream or be treated for a serious illness.
• In the majority of cases it is the possibility of making a financial saving that motivates these patient-tourists, but often it is a journey of hope, made to shorten the waiting time for an operation (too long in their country) or to obtain a treatment prohibited in their country of residence.
• Outside of Europe, health tourism destinations include Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, India, China, and North African states. There are specialised agencies for these products, which offer packages of cure and tourism, but also private clinics and institutions are gearing up for this type of service targeted at foreign patients. The fact remains that, in comparison to the quality of treatment reserved for those coming from abroad, access to healthcare for the local population is often difficult and onerous, even when it comes to basic health services.