Paper Example on Tourist Activities

There are a lot of activities that tourists can enjoy at a new travel destination. Among them is taking photos, interacting with other tourists or enjoying the beautiful sceneries of an attraction site. The Cyrene heritage site is a globally renowned tourist destination and it is a marvel that can be enjoyed through sight seeing (Poudel, 2013, p. 1). However, the site has been faced with a challenges such as the encroachment from other constructions in the nearby Cyrene town (UNESCO, 2017, p.1). This has compromised viewing the experience of viewing the attraction site due to the noises and bustle of builders in a nearby encroachment area (UNESCO, 2017, p.1). This phenomenon has remained so due to poor government involvement in controlling the level of activities taking place near the site. Consequently, such an effect on the attraction site has affected the tourism experience at the site. Additionally, it has caused a substantial reduction in the number of tourists visiting the site each year.

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Tourist Facilities

Accommodation is the most imperative basic need of the tourism sector (Page, 2014, p.192). This is because all travelers require good lodging facilities for them to rest during their tours. Good accommodation facilities play a remarkably important role in promoting the tourism activities of a region (Poudel, 2013, p. 1). This is because travelers enjoy comfort and luxury during the traveling activities. However, from past research, it is evident that Cyrene has a remarkably poor tourists accommodation system. This is because there are substandard and expensive accommodation facilities that can be used by tourists. Such facilities are characterized by a lack of power during most days, lack of proper meals for tourists at all times and a generally expensive accommodation cost charged on the substandard boarding facilities. This problem has remarkably affected thousands of tourists who have visited the Cyrene attraction site.

Additionally, it has also reduced the number of tourists visiting the region since most of them are afraid of staying at poor boarding facilities during their travels. From the interview, Mahmoud stated that he stayed at a youth hostel since it was cheap compared to other accommodation facilities in the region such as hotels. Nevertheless, Mahmoud stated that visitors were not offered some meals such as breakfast during their stay at the hostels. Moreover, Najat also stated that there are not many hotels in Cyrene. She also stated that she knew that visitors go from one city to another in order to find a hotel. From Najats response, it is also evident that there are also very few accommodation facilities for visitors in the Cyrene. Additionally, Mansour stated that during his travel he experienced accommodation problems. Mansour stated that although there were not many tourists visiting the region at the time, he and his fellow tourists could not find an accommodation facility in the region.

Instead, he had to travel to a distant city to check whether there were available accommodation facilities. From the responses of the three interview respondents, it is apparent that finding a good place to stay at Cyrene while visiting the world heritage site is a problem. Consequently, this problem has been a major barrier to thousands of local tourists visiting Cyrene. This is primarily because such local tourists fear being stranded in Cyrene at night during their travels to the archaeological sites at the Cyrene. Additionally, this has reduced the number of tourists visiting the tourist attraction sites in the region each year.

According to a publication authored by Issa (2011), in some nations, foreign-owned hotels usually represent approximately 70% of all hotels in such nations. Nevertheless, in Libya, the level of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the nation accounts for less than 1% of all the hotels operating in the region (Issa, 2011, p. 15). This phenomenon can be attributed to factors such as political instability in the nation, that has been eminent since 2011. Consequently, this has caused the prices of the hospitality sector in the nation to go up due to the limited entities that offer catering and accommodation services to the public. The high cost of hotels in Cyrene accompanied by poor quality services in the establishment is one of the negative experiences that most tourist traveling to the Cyrene ruins encounter. In addition, it is remarkably inconvenient to book a hotel in the operating hotels because booking can only be performed via phone. However, booking accommodation by phone is not confirmed. Ultimately, visitors can book accommodation in Susa because it is cheaper than in Cyrene.

Tourist Services

A good transportation system heightens the mobility of tourists from one attraction site to another (Pineda & Brebbia, 2012, p. 57). The term transport refers to the ease in mobility of persons, freight as well as information. Today, transport and travel cannot be analyzed without placing tourism into consideration. However, tourism cannot exist without travel CITATION Hsu12 \l 1033 (Hsu & Gartner, 2012). As such, it is evident that transportation is an imperative aspect of the tourism industry. This hypothesis is also fundamentally valid because an improved transportation system aids in expanding the tourism section in a given region. In past research, it is evident that poor transportation network has negatively impacted the tourism industry in the World Heritage Site that is situated at Cyrene (Davies, 2009, p. 365). From the interview reports, it is apparent that poor transport has greatly affected the tourism industry in Cyrene. To access the Cyrene ruins, most tourists have been forced to travel through rugged roads and even walk several kilometers on foot so as to arrive at the attraction site.

According to Mahmoud, the public transport system in Cyrene is very poor. Tourists traveling the Cyrene attraction site have to rely on using the Microbus, which is the only tourist transportation system in the region. Consequently, this has greatly affected the convenience of tourists in traveling to the Cyrene ruins. In addition, the Microbus only takes people from the Albayda City to Shahhat City or Cyrene. Tourists have to walk for two kilometers to arrive at the world heritage site. This is also a major problem because not all tourists can be in a position to walk for such long distances on foot. Consequently, it has caused thousands of tourists who cannot walk for long distances to opt out of visiting the attraction site. Additionally, according to Mansour (2017), tourists can only hire a taxi to be driven to the Cyrene ruins.

This method is not convenient for many tourists because they are not guaranteed to catch a taxi back to the Cyrene ruins. As such, they are often forced to carry their luggage with them to the attraction site. Mansour also stated that at one time, he had to take his stuff like the laptop and bag to the site. From the interview, Najat also confirmed that there are very few public transport buses that can be used by tourists in the region. According to a publication authored by Timothy and Boyd (2003), the demand for heritage tourism in different parts of the world has soared over the last two decades. As such its economic, as well as socio-cultural significance in most societies, cannot be overstated. Timothy and Boyd (2003) theorizes that managers must deal with theoretical issues as well as applied subjects that could affect persons during their heritage tourism activities CITATION Tim03 \l 1033 (Timothy & Boyd, 2003). Among such factors is the need for effective infrastructure system through which tourists can visit different destinations. This book by Timothy and Boyd (2003) illustrates the need to have a good transport system that can open up various tourist destinations such as the Cyrene ruins, which is currently affected by the problem of infrastructure.

Communication is an important aspect of tourism. This is because tourists rely on proper communication channels to locate their destination sites and to access basic amenities during their travels. Nevertheless, from past research, it is evident that Cyrene lacks a proper communication infrastructure. This has affected thousands of potential tourists who would have liked to visit the Cyrene World Heritage Site. For example, almost all hotels in the region lack internet connectivity, a major tool of communication in todays contemporary society. As a result, tourists cannot check on best accommodation facilities in Cyrene using the internet because the hotels also do not possess websites. Moreover, there are no online booking systems for hotels in the region. Instead, visitors are forced to make their accommodation reservations through the use of phones, which is also not entirely dependable. In most cases, visitors who book their reservations for accommodation using phone communication often find that their spots have been issued to other tourists upon their arrival in Cyrene. As such, they are often left stranded during their first day at the new environment, and such occurrences ultimately affect other visitors from visiting the region.

According to Mahmoud, the lack of internet connection in almost all the hotels in the Cyrene poses an immense challenge to travelers. For example, Mahmoud used a traveling agency to book his reservation prior to his visit at Cyrene. In this case, the traveling agency used phone communication to make a reservation. Nevertheless, when Mahmoud arrived at Cyrene, he found that his reservation had already been issued to another tourist. Additionally, Mahmoud stated that the lack of modern communication infrastructure in Cyrene also made it hard for him to make essential traveling arrangements such as booking a flight and a taxi service among other services. Additionally, Najat affirmed that during her travel to Cyrene in 2004, there were no internet services available in the region. She also stated that she did not know whether such services are available today or not. Moreover, Mansour stated that the workers in most of the boarding facilities were very simple. He stated that if the Internet connectivity were available in such facilities today, they would not know how to use the Internet services.

This illustrates that Cyrene lacks modern essential communication mediums, such as the Internet, which is a major impediment for the tourism sector in Cyrene. Nevertheless, the lack of such basic amenities as communication, such the Internet, can be attributed to the weak Ministry of Tourism that is present in the nation. According to a publication authored by Mansour, the 2011 civil war that occurred in Libya halted all forms of tourism activities in the nation (Mansour, 2016, p. xii). In addition, the war also blocked the development of the nations tourism sector entirely. Moreover, the economic, security as well as political issues that occurred during the post-civil war period, also caused a high level of turbulence as well as uncertainty among Libyan tourism corporations. This is primarily because their operations are majorly dependent on the countrys security, political stability as well the confidence of foreign tourists to travel to the nation. These phenomena can be regarded to be the primary factors why the Libyan Government has not developed a good communication network in the nation. Consequently, the problem has reduced the number of tourists visiting the nation over the last two decades. This is also because poor communication acts as a major barrier to tourism.

Encroachment of Cyrene

Over the years, there have been mu...