1. Annual EA Exhibition & Workshop
URBAN TOURISM:
Opportunities for Cities with Low Endowment of Historical/Cultural Built Environment Heritage
Eliud Liku
Department of Architecture & Building Science – UoN
23rd July 2015

2. Presentation Outline Preamble Subject Framing Scholarly Engagement
Opportunities
Conclusion

3. preamble

4. Misnomer Literature available has tended to suggest that:
Urban tourism takes place only in cities with high concentration of historical/cultural buildings
Contemporary buildings/structures play insignificant part in tourism offering
The role of architects and urban designers in provision of tourist offering is limited to restoration of historical/ cultural buildings and provision of secondary tourism elements
This paper will attempt to show that these arguments need rethinking

5. Objective
The key objective of this paper is to arouse debate on the subject of Urban Tourism amongst academicians in schools of architecture and urban planning in the region

6. SUBJECT FRAMING

7. Definition
Various scholars have different definitions of the term “Urban Tourism”:
A set of resources or activities located in a city and made available to visitors for the purpose of entertainment, business or for other reasons (Garbae R.X., 2013)
That it takes place in urban agglomeration with at least 20,000 inhabitants, and characterised by short stay of 1-3 days, and travel distance of over 100km

8. Historical Perspective
Urban Tourism has been in existence for over 2000 years but remained unnoticed by scholars for a long time
(the story of Paul in the Bible is a good case in point)
Became an important economic activity in the 1970’s after the collapse of manufacturing industries in Europe

9. Complexity of Urban Tourism
Fairly difficult to isolate amongst other city activities because of the shared consumption of urban facilities
It is vaguely demarcated from other city activities (Ashworth R.V., 2013)
It is a multi-dimensional industry, and therefore a system made of various features & components
It is both a social and economic activity
(Moosivand J. and Farahani B.M., 2013)
It is pervasive; takes place in all cities

10. Top Urban Tourist Destinations (Master Card; 2014 Global Destinations Cities Index)
City
No. of Visitors
1. London
18.69 million
2. Bangkok
16.42 million
3. Paris
15.57 million
4. Singapore
12.47 million
5. Dubai
11.95 million
6. New York
11.81 million
7. Istanbul
11.60 million
8. Kuala Lumpur
10.81 million
9. Hong Kong
8.84 million
10. Seoul
8.63 million
AFRICA
City
No. of Visitors
1 .Johannesburg
4.25 million
2. Cape Town
1.6 0million
3. Cairo
1.35 million
4. Lagos
1.33 million
5. Casablanca
0.99 million

11. SCHOLARLY ENGAGEMENT

12. Urban Tourism Studies
Scholarly studies began to emerge in 1960s and mainly by geographers
Today is an area of study by many disciplines; geographers, sociologist, economists, marketers, planners and policy makers
HOWEVER;
Studies on urban tourism in the developing world have been lacking (Rogerson C.M., 2010)
Schools of architecture have not actively participated in the subject

13. Types of Tourism
Based on the purpose of the visit, Ben-Delia et al (2012) identified 4 types of tourism:
Sea and sand tourism
Culture tourism
Visiting friends and relatives tourism
Business tourism
Culture and business have grown faster than the other two
The two take place mainly in urban centers

14. Attraction of Tourists
Scholars have identified three tourism elements:
Primary; the key motivators
Secondary; complementary
Tertiary; supportive
Attributes of key motivators:
Destination personality
Variety of offerings

15. OPPORTUNITIES

16. Destination Personality
Destination must have personality to attract tourists
Traits (Ekinci & Hosany, 2006)
Excitement and conviviality
Sincerity/authenticity
Sophistication
Beauty
Competence

17. Destination Personality (cont’d)
Current literature is silent on the role of tourism planners in destinations personality acquisition
Tourists use their instincts to bequeath personalities to destinations. (Lovelock B., 2004)
Historical events play a key role in the process of personality acquisition
It can be argued that destination personality is acquired by default and not design

18. Destination Personality (cont’d)
A tired farmer who left his boots hanging on a fence led to creation of this artifact by tourists
(Lovelock B.,2004)

19. Offering Variety
To be attractive to tourists, a city should provide destinations with personality as well as variety in its offerings
Some of the urban features that have been used as vehicles for achieving offering variety are:
Contemporary structures
Street activities
Water fronts

20. Contemporary Structures
London Eye
Designed by Julia Barfield and David Marks
Leading tourist destination; built in 1999
Attracts 3.75m tourists per year, more than the Great Pyramid of Giza and Taj Mahal

21. Contemporary Structures (Cont’d)
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
Built in 1997
Designed by Frank Gehry
Had 4 million tourist visits in the first 3 years
A case of duality in tourist offering
Building and the exhibits are both artifacts

22. Street Activities Street Market – Court Yard Market - Nairobi
Cape Town
Court Yard Market - Nairobi

23. Water Fronts
Nairobi River
Intaka Island -
Canal Walk -Cape Town

24. CONCLUSION

25. Paradigm Shift
Architects and urban designers need to get involved in the debate of urban tourism and make the necessary interpretation and connection between urban design and tourists’ needs
Tourism policy makers and planners need to change from being reactionary to proactive in provision of primary tourism element offerings
Is it possible to bequeath tourism elements with “destination personality” through design?

26. Call to Action
Architects and Urban Designers should take their rightful position and make positive contribution in the discourse of urban tourism offerings especially in the areas of “destination personality” and “offering variety”
Indeed there are enormous opportunities for urban tourism in cities with low endowment of historical/cultural built environment heritage
Contemporary buildings/structures have potential to serve as attractions for tourists

27. Thank You