ATTRACTION MANAGEMENT A CASE STUDY OF THE LONDON EYE.
The London Eye is currently the largest observation wheel in the world standing at 443 feet (135 meters) tall and is located on the western end of HYPERLINK httpwww.answers.comtopicjubilee-gardens-south-bank t _top Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the Thames River between HYPERLINK httpwww.answers.comtopicwestminster-bridge t _top Westminster and HYPERLINK httpwww.answers.comtopichungerford-bridge t _top Hungerford Bridges, opposite the HYPERLINK httpwww.answers.comtopicpalace-of-westminster t _top Houses of Parliament. Seeing London from the top of the London Eye is quite an amazing experience (Merlins Entertainment 2009). The focus of London changes at night when much of the area over Westminster is dark due to the presence of the parks. As you ascend with the Eye you will be presented with a view down the Thames and over the City. You will clearly be able to see St. Pauls Cathedral and the tower of the HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com92LondonTate_Modern Tate Modern with parts of the HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com149LondonCabot_Square Docklands in the distance. Nearby to the south is the green dome of the HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com842LondonImperial_War_Museum_Outside Imperial War Museum and the broadcasting tower on Crystal Palace in the background.
The second half of the ride gives impressive views over the HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com127LondonHouses_of_Parliament_from_Albert_Embankment Houses of Parliament, HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com113LondonParliament_Square Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey. One can also vividly make out HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com3950LondonHorse_Guards_Parade Horse Guards Parade, HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com121LondonSt_James27s_Park_-_West_End St. James Park and HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com66LondonBuckingham_Palace Buckingham Palace quite easily (Tourist information, UK 2010). Closer to the London Eye are the Salvador Dali exhibition and HYPERLINK httpwww.panoramicearth.com1244LondonLondon_Aquarium London Aquarium, both popular London tourist attractions. The London Eye has been used for weddings and other corporate events. Such is the demand that sometimes the whole Eye may be rented out to the corporate sector on special occasions.
The London Eye is the brainchild of David Marks and Julia Barfield, of Marks Barfield, a husband and wife architecture team. According to Swarbrooke (2002), visitor attractions are at the heart of tourism industry, and they motivate each one to desire to travel. This architecture has promoted tourist numbers and diversified tourist attraction sites in line with other facilities along the Thames River. Tourism has contributed significantly to the economy of London and UK at large. Tourism packages range from family visits to an attraction site, sports, to international conventions and exhibitions, forming one of the formidable area that has attracted thousands of visitors around the world. Domestic day visitors constitute the largest number of overall visitors, although long term visits contribute most in terms of expenditure. Business visitors in particular are ranked to be the highest contributor to tourism income since London is a business hub.
Characteristics of the London Eye
Leaks Typology
According to Leaks (20084) typology, visitor attractions are clearly only one part of a complex network of tourism service providers. He argues that the degree to which the focus of analysis should be at the level of the individual attraction, at the destination level or at the national level. The London Eye is a purpose built facility for tourism purposes. It was originally built strategically to take advantage of the existing facilities along the Thames River. These facilities include the Big Ben, cruise ships, Trafalgar square, theatres and other attraction sites in the area. This therefore, attests to the fact that the construction of the London Eye was to constitute the complex network of existing sites along the river.
The classification process on natural or built environment clearly shows that this attraction site exists within a build environment based on its interrelationship with the adjacent facilities, relying on tourism and taking advantage of the existing tourism industry. The Eye is a product of purpose built attraction site since its a new facility contrary to a historic or industrial site. It relies on its revenue generated from entry and admission fees. It is managed based on local and international perception of the facility and the thematic setting of other facilities in the area. The product offered is purely for visitor attraction as an instant product.
The initial aim of constructing the site was for revenue generation and for leisure purposes. The massive influence and support from British Airways labeling it as its brand has contributed to its success. It was basically part of an expansion of tourist core activities as a new site to augment the existing attraction sites. This has let to coming up of new elements for retail and catering purposes. The influx of restaurants, cinemas and curio shops attest to this fact. Its management attraction is implicated by access, staffing and marketing. The pricing is not an issue since its part of a whole attraction package where visitors come at once to visit many sites at the same time. As asserted by Leaks (2008), the target market will influence how the attraction is managed. The fly-in adverts and international marketing packages by BA and other airlines has put London on the world map as a favourite destination.
The London Eye as categorized earlier as a built attraction, does require different approaches for its management since a large number of personnel are required unlike natural sites which require fewer workforces. The site requires large fixed costs due to its magnitude, operating hours, tourist numbers and its labour intensiveness. This is due to its services that range from physical products to tangible services. Its management has been inspired and influenced by its experience on the need for industrious staff for efficient service delivery based on annual customer experience, proximity and access, weather and other factors. For instance, summer season attracts many tourists unlike winter seasons. The management system is purely dependent on season and events that shape the numbers. In a nutshell, Leaks typology on the determination of an attraction product fits with the development of London Eye.
Wanhills Model
Wanhills (2002) model focuses on developmental alternatives to the attraction site. He claims that a visitor attraction is a focus for recreation and increasingly educational activity, undertaken by both day and stays visitors, and frequently shared with the domestic resident population. This typically reflects the London Eye principle since its basically an imagescape where its attraction in some parts and its performance is measured by the number of visitors, for which the output is the visitor experience.
This model takes into consideration the variation in respect to product, concept and its initial creativity. Many attractions have additional services or ancillary functions to generate additional revenue, e.g. souvenir shops, caf and restaurant, and function rooms amongst others. The London Eye is situated with proximity to these facilities which have existed for long and some came up after its construction. It forms the core of Wanhills diagram as the major attraction site and has much attention unlike other surrounding sites. This model shows that other sites come in handy based on the distance from the Eye. The model further stresses that interest reduce in tour attraction as the distance increase from the core site, hence a series of concentric rings based on distance and location.
As indicated by Wanhill (2002), the classification of attractions along a number of different dimensions relates to the said facility. It conforms to the following principles.
Ownership
Capacity The capacity is geared to maximising profits and at the same time to accommodate the large numbers
Market or catchment area The market here is the local and international tourists and thus the facility targets the visitors within the major attraction sites.
Permanency the longevity and sustainability of the project
Type the nature and type of the facility, target clients and services offered
Wanhill further classifies an attraction site according to either a gift of nature or human-made, the London Eye according to this principle is a human-made attraction, hence fitting to this category of sites according to Wanhills definition. The Eye is and artificially developed entertainment unit for visitors who want to have fun and have a chance to experience a panoramic view of the city. It is an attraction which is site specific because it is a physical location facility. It is a hallmark activity and does not complement any other site-specific attraction.
Furthermore, he further alleges that Man-made attraction tends to satisfy human choices. The presence and services offered by the London eye conform exactly to this assertion since it is a new product development. The issue of further classification doesnt fit since it is not mobile lie events. The imagescape theory that the facility is a central (core) feature, therefore, confirms why the central position of the London eye as an attraction facility is followed concentrically by other sites from the nearest to the furthest. The regeneration and property development as alleged by Wanhill model typically follows a reverse pathway Location-imagescape-market. The core product often requires interpretation since the hierarchy of classification varies with the kind of product.
Challenges
The tourism attraction of the London Eye is likely to face a number of challenges in the coming five years, the following are the four main Macro economic challenges.
Environmental Challenges
With recent development in climate change and environmental related problems in the world, London and its environs is challenged by the increased visitor numbers, congestion and stretching of utilities. Since it is always not possible to estimate the exact figures on peak seasons, the excess numbers have posed a challenge to London Eye attraction site. The resultant pollution from wastes to the Thames River is another environmental challenge that needs to be addressed. There is need for sustainable waste management strategies to ensure safe environments along the river and the site. More efforts and initiatives should be diverted to regular cleaning of the river and also responsible waste management from the management of the facility. There is need to encourage encouraging businesses to reduce carbon emissions and water usages since climate change will affect tourist behaviour in the longer term. The global warming effect experience globally and London is particular during summers is a threat to transport systems. Warmer transport systems pose a challenge to the working and traveling population and makes commuting uncomfortable. There will also be increased pressure on water resources in the city. The harsh and extreme weather will lead to erratic demand for resources to accommodate the large numbers of people.
Since London is already has limited water challenges, a wide range of strategies and actions are needed to address these issues. Even though tourism boosts the economy of London, is adversely puts additional strain on its people and the environment. Tourism vehemently contributes to emissions from air transport, there is need to minimise the additional impact of visitors on the London environment, and to ensure that tourism in London contributes to the achievement of global sustainability. The management needs to ensure that the economic and social benefits derived from tourism actually do improve the lives of Londoners. The drastic changes in the local environment will definitely affect the attractiveness of London to visitors, hence the managers need to address this by ensuring that there are proper waste disposal methods, planning and sustainable management of its resources.
Political Challenges
Politics and political processes do affect the development and management of tourism. Politicians and city management have a say in policy formulation and development. These policies affect the development and management of tourism in London. There is need to encourage policies that spread the benefits of tourism by having sound governance and leadership from the ruling elites. The commercial licensing of many enterprises and markets along the London eye pose a threat to the site due to pollution, congestion and conflict of interests. There is always need to regulate the number of businesses to avoid such conflicts. This is achievable through collaborative management from the tourism industry and the government.
The political challenges attested to tourism are also the quality of infrastructure. Since the allocation and management of utilities lies in the city management and political appointees, it is important to improve transport system in order to encourage the increase and spread of tourism benefits. The emerging world tourism markets as one of the recent developments might be hampered by new travel regulations and advisories. The tightening of travel by UK government to some terrorism related countries pose a threat to tourism in London. These political decisions have rendered the city tourism numbers a challenge especially in the next five years. The emerging markets like china and Brazil has accommodated all nationalities thus diverting tourist numbers away from London as new destinations.
Economic Challenges
The recent economic meltdown and depression globally affected the number of tourists. This was caused by collapse in the banking sector thus affecting every fabric of the economy of most of the countries. This trends and recent loss of jobs, saving and purchase power is going to reduce the number of tourist visits to the London Eye. The competition from emerging and cheap tourist destinations poses a great challenge. It is with this reason that managers need to diversify its products to meet the emerging challenges. The introduction of night economy to augment the day economy is a welcome venture. This visitor economy has complemented days activities such as London eye visits, theatres and museums to night clubs and bars. This diversification will boost all sectors of the economy while increasing earning from the long opening hours. The general globalization process coupled with global competition is one of the main challenges to be addressed in the next five years.
These challenges can be addressed by promotion and targeting ageing population. Since the ageing population have higher disposable income from lifetime savings, they need to come up with age variety products to attract this bracket of tourists. These challenges provide the imperative for London Eye management to deliver high quality service and continue to offer new experiences to encourage repeat visits. Without a comprehensive and consultative co-ordination of efforts from the stakeholders to market and manage the London Eye as an attraction and destination in a perfect manner, economic benefits of tourism would not be realised.
Technological Challenges
The Emergence of new technologies to augment traditional and archaic methods are a challenge to the management and running of the London Eye. The use of the internet in booking and planning trips is mandatory if one has to catch up with the modern world. The challenge here is that some tourists from less developed countries with the less technological advancement will be challenged greatly when it comes to on-line bookings. It is mandatory for the management to accommodate this section of the market by diversifying its marketing and booking methods.
Since technology developments are moving incredibly fast, the management needs to catch up and implement these technologies for its sustainability. Technological advancement and use of modern location based services presents new opportunities for information delivery to visitors whilst they are on the move. Internet access and e-commerce are transforming the way tourism operators do business and stimulating demand by the independent traveler, hence the London eye attraction is not exception.
The London Eye management must exploit this medium to its full advantage to communicate with its customers effectively.
Proposed management strategies
The London Eye still and will remains a potential tourist destination for many years to come despite the many challenges addressed above. The London Eye managements challenges require a collective and sustainable management strategies form all quarters. This process should he holistic and consultative to incorporate all parties, sectors, government and stakeholders.
The environmental challenges should be addressed by introduction of proper and improved environmental performance strategies. There is need to encourage the management of the businesses around the area to improve their environmental performance. Come up with best practices and guidelines through green business awards and carbon credits. Tourist attractions along the London Eye should raise awareness of environmental responsibility, such as by providing recycling facilities on site. The government and city management should also have by-laws and encourage environmental audits. According to the London Tourism Action Plan (2005), integration with the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda may assist this process, for example around green procurement. The pollution process should be discouraged by encouraging reduce energy use and recycling of plastic bags and waste paper.
The facilities should be segmented and distributed evenly near the area to reduce congestion. Visitors should be encouraged to use public transport unlike off-road walks and unplanned footpaths and also proper waste disposal to minimise their environmental impacts. Encouraging visitor segmentation of visitors and facility sites adjacent to the Wheel will help to minimise the damage to the environment and infrastructure and avoids over-saturation in the facility.
On the political challenges, there is need for Public and Private Sector Partnerships (PPPs) by the government and facility management for better policy and management strategies for managing tourist facilities (Lennon 2006). The government as the major stakeholder should divert its resources towards attraction sites to boost its economy through earnings from tourism and employment of its population. The London Eye for example, employs many youthful populations, and hence a higher purchasing power for the economy. Proper and sustainable laws and policies should be established to support the industry.
Governments should also help in local and international marketing, through promotions, conferences and exhibitions (Kantanen and Tikkanen, 2006). It should not issue unnecessary travel restrictions and ease visa processing process. It should help the site management to market its products and services in new country markets through its consulates and embassies. It should be able to give incentives and tax breaks during bad economic times to support the industry.
The human resource capacity is important in the success of the London eye facility as a common destination. According to e-business watch (2008), between 190 and 210 people work annually at the Eye, serving the wide customer base that range from tourists to charities, schoolchildren, corporate clients and people from all walks of life. Personnel should be able to handle and cope with various cultural people, languages and personality types. The hospitality of its HR will determine its future success. The marketing and promotion process requires resilience and knowledge of the international market. The facility should broaden and offer quality employment opportunities and provide the skills to enable career satisfaction and progression. The organisational structures should be developed and extra designing, funding and managing the organisational structure is fundamental. This human resource development is vital especially in technological innovation and advancement where every employee should have a breast on recent developments in information technology.
According to Bruinsma et al (2009), the e-service technology is mandatory in modern day tourism management. The management should invest in systems and tools for marketing, e-commerce, operations and tourist management. The Eye has established a comprehensive webpage with extensive information about the attraction and other attractions in London. E-business (2003), confirms that the benefit of e-partnering has increased sales by combining differentiated products and services for its customers.
The economic challenges can be addressed by marketing strategy and tour promotion.
Facilitate product development amongst Londons diverse communities, in order to further integrate those communities into the tourism sector by bringing new products to market, thus generating economic and social benefits. There should be a balancing of visitor types by value and volume (Boyds 2003) in order to avoid over-saturation which detracts visitor experience. With the coming up of new prototype ideas such as the Dubai wheels under consideration, it is important for the management in conjunction with the government to develop this product and make it more unique and ready to face any emerging challenges. There should be new product facilitation and development amongst Londons diverse communities, in order to further integrate those communities into the tourism sector by bringing new products to market, thus generating economic and social benefits. The development of Action Plans and pillars to support tourism by government and the great mayoral of London shows the full support and diversification of brands to business and sports tourism with the marketing of Olympic games by the government.
London is still an attractive and preferred destination of choice for many tourists despite the recent economic downturn. There has been steady increase in tourist numbers due to its richness in scenery, attraction sites, culture and social amenities. London eye as part of it has been a model of success due to its invention and architecture. The development of Tourism Action plans, development plans and other visionary documents has seen through the tremendous development of the industry. The future of tourism will depend on these pillars and the success will depend on management strategies employed with respect to population growth and need for travel.
At present, the London Eye offers unrivalled views of the entire London metropolis, the presence and bespoke cinematic facilities augmenting the Merlin Entertainments London Eye will still provide modern magical leisure and entertainment as a way of experiencing the rich and attractive city. The London eye facility has been successful due to improved quality of Londons accommodation offer through and associated facilities which have influenced market forces in meeting Londons demand for increased tourist numbers and demands. This has improve the quality of the visitor experience in relation to visitor information and management, access to e-tourism, and increase the quality and quantity of visitor facilities and attractions has intertwined the presence of the London eye in a strategic position in the heart of the city.
The future of tourism will depend on the management strategies, and indeed the demographic effects. Most of Londons tourist resources are still abundant and give way to all kinds of tourism. The rich English history and culture has promoted the quest and zeal of global populace in adventure and related tourism ventures. It is upon the industry to regulate, manage and move towards a sustainable tourism potential in the future. The mere shortcomings from the trapping of tourists inside the London eye due to technical problems have to be addressed by new innovations, upgrade and quality service provision. Nonetheless, the future of this facility, management and existence will depend on the stakeholders involved. It is no doubt that London Eye plays a critical role in the development of tourism and the London economy.
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