What is Tourism Geography?

Summary

This video script explores the intersection of geography and tourism, defining tourism geography as the study of how physical and cultural characteristics of places influence and are influenced by tourism. It delves into physical geography aspects like climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography, and human geography elements such as population dynamics, urbanization, cultural landscapes, and economic geography. The script emphasizes the importance of understanding these factors for sustainable tourism practices that benefit both tourists and local communities.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Geography is the study of the earth's features and the relationships between tourism and geography have been studied for about a hundred years.
• 📚 The term 'geography' originates from the Greek words 'geo' (earth) and 'graphia' (description or writing), highlighting its focus on describing the earth's features.
• 👋 Øyvind introduces the video series 'What is Tourism!' to explore the links between tourism and geography.
• 🔍 Geography is defined as the science of place and space, involving the study of both physical and cultural characteristics of regions and their influence on human behavior.
• 🏞 Tourism geography specifically studies how the physical and cultural characteristics of places are influenced by and influence tourism.
• 🌡 Physical geography includes climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography, all of which have direct implications for tourism demand and destinations.
• 🏔 Geomorphology helps understand the formation of landforms important for tourism, such as mountains and canyons, and potential geological hazards.
• 💧 Hydrology provides insights into water-related tourist attractions and the availability of water resources for tourism activities.
• 🌿 Biogeography offers guidance on the distribution of flora and fauna, important for both biodiversity conservation and as tourist attractions.
• 🏙 Human geography focuses on human activities, their spatial distribution, and impacts, which are crucial for analyzing tourist populations and urban tourism.
• 🏛 Cultural landscapes, as expressions of human activity, are significant for understanding potential tourist attractions and their significance.
• 💼 Economic geography helps in understanding the economic impacts of tourism and designing effective tourism policies and strategies.
• 🌳 Tourism geography aims to provide a scientific understanding for sustainable tourism practices that conserve resources, protect communities, and enhance experiences.

Q & A

What is the origin of the term 'geography'?

The term 'geography' comes from the Greek words 'geo' (meaning 'earth') and 'graphia' (meaning 'description' or 'writing'), and it was first used by the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes in the third century before the Common Era.

How long ago did studies of the relationship between geography and tourism first emerge?

The first studies of the relationships between geography and tourism emerged about a hundred years ago.

What is the main motive of leisure tourism according to the script?

Experiencing the unique characteristics of different places is one of the main motives of leisure tourism.

How does the University of Oregon define geography?

According to the Geography Department at the University of Oregon, geography is the science of place and space, involving the study of the physical and cultural characteristics of different regions and how they influence and are influenced by human behavior.

What is the definition of tourism geography as adapted from the University of Oregon's definition of geography?

Tourism geography involves the study of the physical and cultural characteristics of different places and the ways in which they influence and are influenced by tourism.

How is geography commonly approached from different perspectives?

The study of geography is commonly approached from two different perspectives: physical geography and human geography.

What is physical geography and how is it related to tourism?

Physical geography is the branch of geography that studies the natural environment and its physical processes, including climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography. It is related to tourism as it provides insights into patterns and variations that affect tourism destinations, such as climate, landforms, water-related attractions, and biodiversity.

What is human geography and how does it relate to tourism?

Human geography is the branch of geography that focuses on the study of human activities, their spatial distribution, relationships, and impacts on the natural and built environment. It relates to tourism by providing insights into tourist populations, urban tourism, cultural landscapes, and the economic impacts of tourism.

How does biogeography contribute to tourism?

Biogeography, the study of the distribution of living organisms, provides insights into the distribution of endemic and endangered species, the ecology of natural habitats, and the impacts of human activity on biodiversity. It can guide where flora and fauna can be safely exploited as tourist attractions.

What role does economic geography play in understanding tourism?

Economic geography, which is concerned with the geographic spread of economic activities, provides a framework for understanding the economic impacts of tourism on different regions and communities and for designing effective tourism policies and strategies.

What is the ultimate goal of tourism geography in relation to sustainable tourism practices?

The ultimate goal of tourism geography is to provide the scientific understanding and tools for analyzing and managing the natural and cultural environment of tourism destinations, enabling tourism professionals to develop sustainable tourism practices that conserve local resources, protect communities and ecosystems, and enhance the tourist experience.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Introduction to Tourism Geography

This paragraph introduces the concept of tourism geography, a field that explores the interplay between the physical and cultural characteristics of places and the impact of tourism. It explains the origin of the term 'geography' and its significance in understanding the world's features. The paragraph also outlines the dual perspectives of geography—physical and human—and how they relate to tourism, including the study of climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography under physical geography, and population dynamics, urbanization, cultural landscapes, and economic geography under human geography.

05:02

🛶 Sustainable Tourism Practices

The second paragraph emphasizes the practical applications of tourism geography in managing and analyzing the natural and cultural environments of tourism destinations. It highlights the importance of sustainable tourism practices that aim to preserve local resources, protect communities and ecosystems, and improve the overall tourist experience. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to engage with the content by liking and subscribing to the channel.

Keywords

💡Geography

Geography is the study of the earth's features, including both the physical and human aspects of the environment. In the context of the video, geography is essential for understanding the characteristics of different places that influence and are influenced by tourism. The script mentions that geography is concerned with describing the earth's features, which is the foundation for studying tourism geography.

💡Tourism

Tourism is the activity of visiting places for leisure or travel purposes. The video script highlights the relationship between tourism and geography, emphasizing that tourism is about experiencing the unique characteristics of different places. It is one of the main motives of leisure tourism, which is intrinsically linked to the study of geography.

💡Tourism Geography

Tourism geography is a subfield that examines the physical and cultural characteristics of different places and how they are affected by tourism. The video defines it as the study of how these characteristics influence and are influenced by tourism, making it a crucial concept for understanding the video's theme.

💡Physical Geography

Physical geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the natural environment and its processes, such as climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography. The script explains that it is related to tourism through factors like climate influence on tourism demand and the formation of landforms that are important for tourism.

💡Human Geography

Human geography is the study of human activities and their spatial distribution, relationships, and impacts on the environment. The video script discusses how human geography contributes to understanding tourist populations, urban tourism, cultural landscapes, and the economic impacts of tourism, all of which are vital for the development of tourism practices.

💡Climate

Climate refers to the long-term patterns of temperature, precipitation, and other weather conditions in a region. In the script, climate is identified as a key factor influencing tourism demand and seasonality, and it is particularly relevant in the context of tourism geography due to its impact on tourism destinations and climate change.

💡Geomorphology

Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them. The video mentions geomorphology as a way to understand the formation of landforms such as mountains and canyons, which are significant for tourism and can also provide insights into geological hazards affecting tourism.

💡Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of water in the environment, including its distribution, movement, and quality. The script explains that hydrology is important for tourism geography as it provides insights into water-related tourist attractions and the availability of water resources for tourism activities.

💡Biogeography

Biogeography is concerned with the distribution of living organisms and ecosystems in geographic space. The video script notes that biogeography offers insights into the ecology of natural habitats and the impacts of human activity on biodiversity, which is important for understanding where flora and fauna can be safely used as tourist attractions.

💡Cultural Landscapes

Cultural landscapes are the visible expressions of human activity on the natural environment, including architecture, land use, and local traditions. The video script describes how human geography can provide insights into the significance of cultural landscapes as tourist attractions and their potential impact on tourism.

💡Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism refers to tourism practices that aim to conserve local resources, protect communities and ecosystems, and enhance the tourist experience without causing harm to the environment or local culture. The video script concludes by emphasizing the importance of sustainable tourism practices, which are underpinned by the scientific understanding provided by tourism geography.

Highlights

Geography is defined as the science of place and space, studying the physical and cultural characteristics of regions and their influence on human behavior.

Tourism geography is a subfield that explores the impact of tourism on the physical and cultural characteristics of places.

The term 'geography' originates from the Greek words 'geo' and 'graphia', meaning 'earth' and 'description' or 'writing'.

Tourism geography can be considered a subfield of both geography and tourism, examining the mutual influences between tourism and places.

Physical geography, a branch of geography, studies the natural environment and its processes, such as climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography.

Climate is a pivotal factor in tourism demand and seasonality, with physical geography providing insights into climate patterns affecting tourism destinations.

Geomorphology, the study of landforms, helps understand the formation of tourist-relevant landscapes and potential geological hazards.

Hydrology, the study of water in the environment, is important for understanding water-related tourist attractions and water resource availability.

Biogeography offers insights into the distribution of species and the impacts of human activity on biodiversity, guiding sustainable exploitation of flora and fauna in tourism.

Human geography focuses on human activities, their spatial distribution, and impacts on the environment, relevant to understanding tourist populations and urban tourism.

Population dynamics in human geography are crucial for analyzing tourist characteristics and developing effective marketing strategies.

Urbanization and its concentration of tourism in cities is a key area of interest in understanding the impacts of tourism on local communities.

Cultural landscapes, as expressions of human activity, are significant for their potential as tourist attractions and their significance in human geography.

Economic geography provides a framework for understanding the economic impacts of tourism and for designing effective tourism policies.

Tourism geography offers scientific understanding for managing the natural and cultural environment of tourism destinations sustainably.

Understanding the aspects of tourism geography can lead to the development of sustainable tourism practices that conserve resources and protect communities.

The video encourages viewers to like and subscribe for more content on tourism geography and related topics.

Transcripts

Geography involves studying places on the  earths surface and how the characteristics  

of these places influence and are influenced  by human beings. Since tourism is all about  

visiting places around the world, there are some  obvious links between tourism and geography.  

In this video we will explore these links and  try to explain what tourism geography means.

My name is Øyvind. Welcome to What is Tourism!

The term "geography" comes from the Greek words  

"geo" (meaning "earth") and "graphia"  (meaning "description" or "writing").  

It follows that geography is concerned with  describing the earths features. It was first  

used by the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes  in the third century before the Common Era.

The first studies of the relationships  between geography and tourism emerged  

about a hundred years ago. A long-standing  interest in geography among students and  

practitioners of tourism is not surprising,  as experiencing the unique characteristics  

of different places is one of the  main motives of leisure tourism.

According to the Geography Department at the  University of Oregon, geography is the science  

of place and space. They also provide a definition  that can be adapted to serve our purposes:

Geography involves the study of the  physical and cultural characteristics  

of different regions and the ways in which they  influence and are influenced by human behavior.

With some minor alterations, we get a  useful definition of tourism geography:

Tourism geography involves the study of  the physical and cultural characteristics  

of different places and the ways in which  they influence and are influenced by tourism.

Depending on your initial perspective  

it may be regarded as a subfield of  geography or a subfield of tourism.

Note in the definition above that geography  is concerned with both physical and cultural  

characteristics. Accordingly the study of  geography is commonly approached from two  

different perspectives: physical  geography and human geography.

Physical geography is the branch of geography  that studies the natural environment and  

its physical processes, including climate,  geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography.  

The main areas of interest in physical geography  are related to tourism in several ways:

Climate. Climate is a key factor that influences  tourism demand and seasonality. Physical geography  

provides insights into the patterns and  variations in temperature, precipitation,  

and other climatic variables that affect tourism  destinations. This area is of particular interest  

as it provides insight into the relationships  between tourism and climate change.

Geomorphology. Geomorphology is the study of  landforms and the processes that shape them.  

Physical geography provides insights into the  formation and evolution of landforms that are  

important for tourism, including mountains,  canyons, deserts, and karst landscapes.  

It may also provide insights into geological  hazards that may provide obstacles to tourism.

Hydrology. Hydrology is the study of water  in the environment, including rivers, lakes,  

and groundwater. Physical geography  provides insights into the hydrological  

processes that are important for  tourism, including the formation  

of water-related tourist attractions and the  availability of water resources for tourism.

Biogeography. Biogeography is the study of the  distribution of living organisms and it provides  

insights into the distribution of endemic and  endangered species, the ecology of forests and  

other natural habitats, and the impacts of human  activity on biodiversity. Biogeography can also  

provide guidance to where flora and fauna can  be safely exploited as tourist attractions.

Human geography is the branch of  geography that focuses on the study  

of human activities, including their  spatial distribution, relationships,  

and impacts on the natural and built environment.  

The main areas of interest in human geography  are related to tourism in several ways:

Population dynamics. Human geography  provides the tools and methods for analyzing  

and understanding the characteristics of tourist  populations, including their age, gender, income,  

and cultural backgrounds. This information  is essential for developing effective tourism  

marketing strategies and for understanding  the impacts of tourism on local populations.

Urbanization. Tourism is often concentrated in  urban areas, which provide access to cultural,  

recreational, and entertainment activities.  

Human geography can contribute to a  better understanding of urban tourism,  

including its impacts on local communities as well  as the attractions associated with city tourism.

Cultural landscapes. Cultural landscapes  are the visible expressions of human  

activity on the natural environment, including  architecture, land use, and local traditions.  

Human geography can contribute insights into  the significance of cultural landscapes,  

and their potential as tourist attractions.

Economic geography. Economic geography  is concerned with the geographic spread  

of economic activities. Human geography  provides a framework for understanding  

the economic impacts of tourism on  different regions and communities,  

and for designing effective  tourism policies and strategies.

Overall, tourism geography provides the scientific  understanding and tools for analyzing and managing  

the natural and cultural environment of tourism  destinations. By understanding these aspects,  

tourism professionals can develop sustainable  tourism practices that conserve local resources,  

protect communities and ecosystems,  and enhance the tourist experience.

Thanks a lot for watching! And if you  enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe!