What Exactly Is a Tourism Destination?

A tourist destination is basically a place or region that relies primarily on the tourist economy. This means that, while a town might be historically important to a town’s economy, it might lose tourists due to a myriad of different factors. For instance, a town like Cape Town, South Africa which historically has relied on mining for much of its economy, has seen a tremendous decline in tourist arrivals due to the high cost of importing equipment and labor to operate the mines. So does this mean that Cape Town is no longer a viable tourist destination?

Honestly, it depends on how you define a tourist destination. For example, a tourist destination could be a large, metropolitan area such as Cape Town. Also, it would probably not include smaller towns such as Durban in South Africa or Victoria Falls in Zambia. It would also not include many rural destinations, such as Lyme Bay in the United States, which have a significantly lower tourist attraction value than larger cities. However, on the other hand, a tourism orientated definition of a destination could include smaller cities located in less populated areas, such as Kaalailand in Thailand, or a number of beach destinations throughout Asia, which tend to grow in popularity in the warmer months and become popular tourist destinations during the winter.

The thing to remember is that tourism destinations do not necessarily need to be located in a well developed tourist destination country. For instance, the small island of Bonaire in the Caribbean would be a good candidate for inclusion in a tourism destination, given its historic importance to French and Spanish exploration and colonization. It also provides a unique historical context for any Caribbean resort and surrounding areas, creating a unique experience for visitors. Of course, given the low visitor traffic to Bonaire, it probably would not make a good candidate for being a top tourist destination in general, but it would make a fine tourist destination for fewer tourists, who prefer to see Bonaire rather than a large number of destinations.