Five Main Factors Influencing the Growth of Tourism With Diagram

Factors influencing the growth of tourism

The following image depicts factors influencing the growth of tourism.

Image credits © Manoj Patil.

Important factors that affect the development of tourism are as follows:

1. Environmental factors :
   1. Good climate,
   2. Beautiful scenery, etc.
2. Socio-economic factors :
   1. Accessibility,
   2. Accommodation,
   3. Amenities,
   4. Ancillary services, etc.
3. Historical and cultural factors,
4. Religious factors and
5. Other factors.

Now let's discuss above factors affecting the growth of tourism.

1. Environmental factors

Two main environmental factors that have led to the growth of tourism:

1. Good climate : Good climate is one of the most important features of attraction for any tourist place. Pleasant climate with warmth and ample of sunshine attracts tourists who come from the temperate and colder regions. For example, most of the sea-side resorts in U.S.A and U.K are located on a warmer southeast. On other hands, people from summer areas migrate to cooler regions to seek pleasure of cold fresh environment. For instance, in India places like Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar near Mumbai, Kullu and Manali, Shillong, Kashmir, so on are well-known for their cool and pleasant climate. Other countries with cooler climate that attract tropical tourists are Switzerland, Sweden, etc.
2. Beautiful scenery : Tourism booms at picnic spots with beautiful sceneries. For example, sunrise and sunset points, long sea beaches, fresh water lakes, waterfalls, etc., often attract large numbers of tourists.

2. Socio-economic factors

Four important socio-economic factors that influence the development of tourism:

1. Accessibility : Of all socio-economic factors, accessibility is the most important one. All tourist centers must be easily accessible by various modes of transportation like roads, railways, air and water. To enjoy nature's beautiful sites seeing traveling by roads and railways is a better option. If a tourist plans to reach a remote tour-destination in the quickest possible time, then airway is the most suitable choice. Generally, waterways are seldom selected unless a tourist decides to enjoy a luxury cruise experience in sea and/or interested to visit an isolated archipelago.
2. Accommodation : Places of tourists' interest must be capable enough to provide good accommodation and catering facilities. A type of accommodation required by tourists depends on their lives-styles, standard of living, capacity to spend money, nature of services expected, etc. Classification of accommodation centers (i.e. various hotels, motels, dormitories, etc.) on basic of rating like five stars and below are essential so that tourists can make a proper choice and plan their trips appropriately. Generally, tourism mostly prospers in those areas where good lodging and food facilities are available at reasonable prices.
3. Amenities : Growth of tourism at a particular place is also influenced crucial factors like; how well the site is maintained for touring activities like skiing, roping, paragliding, rowing, fishing, surfing, safari adventure, etc. Whether emergency facilities are available or not, so on.
4. Ancillary services : If a tour destination is equipped by ancillary (supplementary) services like banking and finance, the Internet and telecom connectivity, hospitals, insurance, so on, then such a place succeeds to hold (retain) more tourists for a longer time. This overall helps to boost the local economy to some extend.

3. Historical and cultural factors

Many tourists are attracted to places of historical significance and that which have a legacy of rich cultural heritage. People love and enjoy exploring destinations where there are famous ancient monuments, marvelous forts, castles and palaces of earlier kings and queens, etc.

Examples of places that are famous throughout the world for their historical and cultural accounts are; Taj Mahal in India, Nazca lines and Machu Picchu in Peru, Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, Great wall of China and Stonehenge in England.

4. Religious factors

People often make pilgrims to places of religious importance to seek inner peace, get blessing of their favorite deities and gurus, attain salvation before death, etc. Here, faiths, beliefs and sentiments of people contribute in booming tourism at holy places.

Examples of places that are well-known for their religious significance are Jerusalem in Israel, Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, Varanasi and Amritsar in India, etc.

5. Other factors

Sometimes other factors also contribute toward growth of tourism at unexpected places.

For example, UFO crash site in Roswell, New Mexico (USA) attracts many tourists from around the world.

Research activities and adventures of deep seas and caves, geological studies of hot-water springs and geysers, seismic analysis of active volcanoes, investigation of paranormal-activities in abandoned ghost towns, etc. also contribute in developing tourism on some scale.

So, these are some of the main factors influencing the growth of tourism.