TTM-05 TOURISM GEOGRAPHY SEM-3rd

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Notes (Handouts)

Tourism Geography

References
Brian Boniface and Chris Cooper	: Worldwide Destinations, The Geography of
	Travel and Tourism
Babu P. George and Alexandru Nedela	: International Tourism, World Geography and
	Development Perspective
V.N. Nigam	A complete Course in Geography
Rosemary Burton	: Travel Geography

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page)

Page 1

Significance of Geography in Tourism

Study of Geography gives us the true picture of the environment we live. It describes the spatial relationship between man and nature at a given place. It also gives a framework to understand the differences in cultures, economies, landscapes and environments. Geography can be split in to two broad areas.

Physical Geography: it focuses on earth science and encompasses landscapes, soil, water, etc.

Human Geography: It is a study of human interactions on environment and the process of shaping societies. It is further divided in to cultural geography, population geography, political geography, development geography, health geography and economic geography.

Geographical features have a significant role in tourism. Travel pattern, destination development, destination management, visitors’ profile, structure of tourism industry etc. are influenced by a number of factors, in which the spatial pattern plays a crucial role.

Core factors influence destination selection (Directly related to Geography)

Scenic beauty of a place

Unique geographical features of a place (volcanic site, Crater, etc.)

Distance (to reach/to complete to tour)

Demographic features (in the destination or around the destination. For eg. National

Parks)

Other factors (indirectly related to Geography)

Political environment

Social development

Popularity of the destination

Awareness on the place

Availability of services (tour operators, transporters etc.)

Visitor’s patterns etc. (preferences of visitors)

Costs (to visit, to stay and to move around)

Three main concepts of Geography and Tourism (Boniface and Cooper, 2002)

Spatial Scale (study the human activity, focussing on tourist generating and receiving areas and the link between them)

Geographical Component (study the tourism system such as origin of tourists, destination and the route they are taking up etc. )

Spatial interaction between the components of the tourism system (Tourist flows , and major motivational factors)

Map

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page)

Page 2

Map is drawn representation of geographical space. It help us to understand the interrelationship of various phenomenon. Maps are the most effective medium to communicate to the target group about various features of a selected area.

Cartography means science of map making. There are three types of maps:

General maps – Spatial association of a variety of geographical phenomenon. Thematic maps – Spatial variation of a single phenomenon.

Topographic maps – Exhibits natural phenomenon along with cultural features.

Scale: Expression in ratio between a distance on a map which is always expressed as 1 and the corresponding distance on the earth’s surface.

Symbols used

Isarithm: Value or Quantity

Isotherm: Temperature

Isobars: Barometric pressure

Projection: Cartographers project the spherical surface of the earth on a place.

a.Conic

b.Cylindrical

c.Azimuthal

Thematic maps focus on a specific idea eg. Climate, vegetation, economics, population etc. Legends: Legends means the indicators used in maps as symbols. Capitals, towns, roads, train routes, institutions such as monuments, buildings, rivers and other features etc.

Defining Latitude and Longitude

Latitude and longitude are two fundamental concepts of learning the location in earth. Latitude specifies the north/south point of destination, by taking the position from Equator (0°). All the latitudinal line circles parallel to earth. They are also known as the Parallels of Latitude. The latitude of the North Pole is 90° and the latitude of the South Pole is 90°. North Pole and South Pole denote the points and not circles. From Equator, to the north pole the distance is 10,000 K.M. and one degree of latitude is 111 K.M. the following are the most important parallels of latitudes.

Equator: Mid way between two poles, this divides the earth in to two hemispheres, i.e. Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere.

Tropic of Cancer: Located 23½° North of Equator. On 21 June noon, sunrays falls vertically on this line and it is also treated as the northern most limit of over head sun. During June most of the countries located in Northern Hemisphere experiences summer.

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page)

Page 3

Tropic of Capricorn: It is located 23½° South of Equator. On 22 December noon, sunrays falls vertically on this line and it is also treated as the Southern most limit of over head sun.

Arctic Circle: Located 66½° North of Equator. 24 hours sunlight is available on 21 June as the sun is on the northern most limit.

Antarctic Circle: Located 66½° South of Equator. 24 hours sunlight is available on 21 December as the sun is on the southern most limit.

North Pole: It is the northern most point of earth, which is located at 90° North of Equator.

South Pole: it is the southern most point of earth, which is located at 90° South of Equator

Tourism Resources at the world scale

Almost 40% land mass is in Northern Hemisphere and 20 % of the southern hemisphere

This uneven distribution of land and sea influence the climate, population distribution, economic development and even tourism.

The land surface of the earth is composed of

Mountains

Sloping hill lands

Elevated plateau and

Low land plains

Within each landform, the natural variations and underlying pattern of rock also decide the land features. Such as

Volcanoes, crater lakes, calderas, lava formations, geysers, geothermal features.

Karst limestone areas where surface streams have disappeared and carved out impressive caves, gorges, and sinkholes. Mountains and hill lands occupy 75% of the land surface.

Mountain ranges are found in every continent, but worlds spectacular mountains are found in ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ one of the most geologically unstable area which is frequently affected by seismic/volcanic activities.

Peaks, glaciers, cliffs, cirques and waterfalls .

Wetlands, marshy lands, estuaries, marshy lands, tidal mud flats and swamps

Nodes(lakes, reservoirs), linear corridors (Rivers and Canals)

Vulnerable areas:- Mountain areas, hills, coral reefs, and small islands, lake sides, etc.

Climatic elements

1.Temperature

a.Relative humidity:-expressed as percentage. It measures the moisture content of the air as a percentage of the total amount it could contain at a given temperature

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page)

Page 4

b.Effective temperature:-the effect of humidity on how hot the weather feels can be expressed as a value.

2.Sunshine

3.Wind

4.Precipitation

5.Air quality

6.Distance from sea/currents

7.Cyclones/Depressions

Natural Regions

A	Tropical Regions
	Equatorial
	Tropical grassland (Savanna)	Low latitude
	Tropical dessert (Hot dessert)
	Tropical east margin (Monsoon region)
B	Warm Temperate
	Mediterranean (warm temperate west margin)	Mid latitude
	China type (warm temperate east margin)
	Continental interior (temperate dessert)
C	Cool Temperate Regions
	Cool Temperate west margin	Mid latitude
	West European Marine
	Temperate grassland
	Cool Temperate East Margin
	Cold Temperate (Taiga)
d	Polar Regions
	Tundra (Cold Desert)	High Latitude
	Ice Cap

Wold Climate and Tourism

	Zone		Physical characteristics	Significance			Type/Location
	1.		Day and night equal in length	Unfavourable/scope			Amazonian
	Humid Tropics		Extensive cloud cover and good	for river expeditions
	Equatorial		rainfall
			high humidity
			Temp(23-32)
	Trade	wind	North Hemis: NE trade wind bring	Favourable	for	beach	Barbados,
	type		heavy rains in Dec-May	tourism			Mauritius		and
			In S. Hems. SE Trade wind bring	Risk		of	Tahiti
			rains in June –Oct.	cyclones/hurricane
	Tropical	Wet	Cool dry (warm days and cool	Raining	can	be	Goa,	Bangkok,
	Dry		nights)	Sweltering			Darwin
			and hot dry – high temperatures
				Dry season suitable for
				sight seeing
	2. Hot Dry		No rain fall	Permits	winter-sun		Aswan, Bahrain,
			Daily variations in temperature	tourism			Alice Springs
			Low humidity except coastal areas	Summer unpleasant
			N hemi: Nov –march	Desserts		attract
Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University
			(References mentioned in Cover Page)					Page 5

S Hemi: Apr-Sept

trekking expeditions

West

Coast

Moderate temperature year round

Less

favourable

less

Tarfaia

desert subtype

scope for water sports

Mollendo

3. Warm

N.Hemis: long warm season May-Oct

Highly favourable

S. Hemis: Nov-Apr

Year

round

tourism

activity

Summer

ideal

for

beach tourism

Mediterranean

Cool Winters with moderate rainfall

Palma,

Los

Warm to hot dry summer

Angeles

Abundant sunshine

Cape town, Perth

Warm

Cool Winters with moderate rainfall

New

Orleans,

Temperate

Occasional cold weather in North

Shanghai

,

humid summer

Summer rains hot and humid

Buenos

Aires,

weather

Sydney

4.

Mild to raw winter

Winters unfavourable

Dublin,

Cool Temperate

Cool cloudy summer

Short season for beach

Vancouver

N.Hemis:- Jun-Aug

tourism

Wellington

s.Hemis:- Dec-Feb

Suitable

for

outdoor

recreations

Cold winters with extensive snow

Winters

suitable

for

Chicago

5.

Continental

cover

skiing and other snow

Montreal

cold winter

Warm

summers

with moderate

based activities

Stockholm

rainfall

Short season for beach

Sapporo

tourism

Lakes are likely to be

important

for water

sports

Mid

Latitude

Little or no rainfall due to rain

Scope

for

trekking

Ulan Bator

Dessert Type

shadow effect

expeditions

and

Very cold winters

generally unfavourable

in winter

6.

Cold Damp

Raw winters, No real summer strong

Unfavourable, but rich

South Georgia

winds

bird and animal life

Faeroes,Aleutians

7.

Cold Dry

Subarctic

Very

cold winters,

spectacular

Generally

Fairbanks

continental

spring, short summer

unfavourable,

winter

temperature below-20

degree Celsius

Polar Climate

Bitterly cold dark winter with high

Unfavourable

Spitzbergen

wind chill. Air temp. in summer

Deception Island

rarely rises above 10 Celsius

8.

Highland

climate

Tropical

Great

differences

in

temperature

Very

favourable

at

Addis Ababa

highlands

between day and night

1500-3000 m

Quito

Intense UV radiation

Hill

stations

are

Darjeeling

Low humidity

crowded

during

Absence of dust and pollen at high

summers

altitudes

Altitude

sickness

at

Permanent snow line at 4000-5000

higher altitudes

m

Mid

Latitude

Greater seasonal

differences of

St. Moriz

high lands

temperature

Denver

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page)

Page 6

Cold snowy winters Warm rainy summers Coniferous forest,

Alpine meadow above tree line Permanent snow line above 2500 - 3000 meters.

World Climatic Zones

Humid Tropic (zone 1)	Dry season of varying lengths
	African savannah-for game viewing
	Caribbean beaches for coastal tourism
	South Asia and West Africa attract winter tourists from North
	America and Europe
Hot Dry (zone 2)	Tropical and sub tropical latitudes
	Upper Egypt and N. Arizona
	Low humidity, sunniest places
	Bahrain, Aden and Sub Sahara
Warm Climate (Zone 3)	Located between latitude 25°-40°
	Canary Islands, Florida and Mediterranean
Cool Temperate (Zone 4 & 5)	Western Europe, British Islands
	Continental Climate of Eastern Europe
Cold Damp (Zone 6)	Low pressure belts over North Atlantic, North Pacific and South
	Oceans
Cold Dry (Zone 7)	Antarctica and Green Land
Highland climate (Zone 8)	Cities in Latin America, East Africa, and Himalayas

Five themes of Geography

Formulated by Joint Committee on Geographic Education of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE).

Theme 1: Location

Location is determined by imaginary grid of latitude and longitude. To locate a place first we have to understand the position in Latitude for eg. North or South of Equator. Then location from longitude.

As a convention latitude is mentioned first and then longitude. Latitudes are parallel, but not longitude.

Key latitudes: Equator 0°, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricon, the arctic Circle, and the Antarctic Circle.

Key longitudes include International Date Line (180°), and Prime Meridian (0°)

A place’s latitude affects its climate not its longitude.

Theme 2: Place

It gives meaning by the features of geological/geophysical/geographical, then

people/culture/settlement and living environment
Theme 3: Human/Environment Interaction
Theme 4: Movement
Theme 5: Regions
Composition of Geographic Regions by UN statistical Commission
	Africa		Eastern Africa
			Middle Africa
Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University
	(References mentioned in Cover Page)				Page 7

	Northern Africa
	Southern Africa
	Western Africa
Americas	Caribbean
	Central America
	South America
	Northern America
Asia	Eastern Asia
	Southern Asia
	South Eastern Asia
	Western Asia
Europe	Eastern Europe
	Northern Europe
	Southern Europe
	Western Europe
Oceania	Australia
	Melanesia
	Micronesia
	Polynesia

Introduction to Natural Regions

Climate is the basic element of the natural environment. Climate influences landforms, soils, hydrology, vegetation and animal life. The natural vegetation depends on temperature, rainfall, humidity and winds. Climatic conditions have a great effect on human life. It decides the everyday life of people and the economic development of a region. A natural region includes the whole of that area on the earth which has almost uniform conditions of relief, temperature, rainfall, soils, and vegetation as well as human activities.

(a)Equatorial Rain Forests—Hot wet equatorial climate

(0-10 Degree North & South of equator) Avg. Tep-25-30 Degree

Cities: Jakarta, Bandung, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Abuja, Accra, Stanleyville and Kinshasa, Manaus. (examples of human settlement (Tribe): pygmies of Zaire Basin, Semangs of Malaysia)

(b)Hot Deserts---Tropical Dry Climate

(10-30 Degree North & South) Arizona, Atacama, Sahara, Kalahari, Arabia, Thar, Western Australia

Cities : Cairo, Timukuttu (Mali) , Aswan, Baghdad, Aden, Iquique(Chile), Lima, San Diego, Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie (Australia)

Primitive hunters, pastoral nomads, caravan traders, settled cultivators and mining settlers can be found here.

(c)Mediterranean Lands

(30 -45 Degree North & South) shore lands of Mediterranean, countries, California, S.W. of Cape Town , S.W of Australia, Cities: Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Marseilles, Roma, Naples, Algiers, Tunis, Cape Town, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santiago.

(known for vine yards, fruit orchards such as Citrus, Oranges, plums, Olives etc.

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page) Page 8

(d) Temperate Grass Lands

40-55 Degree North and South. (These are the interior or continental grassland areas between Taiga Forests, and deserts in Northern hemisphere. )

North America: Prairies

South America: Pampas

South Africa	: Veld
Hungary	: Pastaz
Eurasia	: Steppes
Australia	: Downs

Largest area: East shore of Black Sea & Caspian Sea to the Loess highland of North west of China, Odessa, Tashkent, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Chicago, Buenos Aires

(e) Coniferous Forests (Taiga Forests)

55 -70 Degree North & South, Scandinavia, Pacific Coast across Northern Russia, South Alaska across Southern Canada. Cities: Oslo, Stockholm, Moscow, Fairbanks

(f) Tundra Region (Arctic or Polar Climate)

66.5 degree North – Polar Region. Northern Canada, South of Green Land, Northern Scandinavia to Eastern China

Indian Geography

India stands at 7th largest country in the world in terms of area. It stretches from snow capped Himalayas in the North to Coastal villages of South, tropical forests of South-West Coast, the Brahmaputra Valley in the East to the Desert in the West. Bounded by Himalayas in the North, it stretches southwards and at the tropic of cancer. The main land of India lies in between 8°4' and 37°6' (latitudes) north, 68°7' and 97°25' (longitudes). The distance measured is about 3,214 k.m. from north to south between latitudes and 2,933 k.m. from east to west between longitudes. It has a land frontier of 15,200 k.m. and the total length of the coast line of main land, Lakshadweep Islands, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 k.m.

India shares border with Pakistan and Afghanistan to the north- west, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the North Myanmar to the East and Bangladesh to the East of West Bengal. Palk Strait separates India and Sri Lanka.

1. Northern Wall

Himadri, Himachal Himalaya, Shivalik

Panjab Himalaya:-Indus & Sutlej valleys comes here Kumaon Himalaya-Sutlej and Kali river

Nepal Himalaya-Kali & Teesta

Assam Himalaya-Teesta & Brahmaputra

2.Plains Northern Plains:

Indus river system-up to Ambala and Chandigarh

Ganga and tributaries Kali, Kosi, Sone, Gandak, Yamuna and Chambal rivers

Brahmaputra-Tsangpo, Dihang and Assam Valley plains

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page)

Page 9

Relief:

a)Bhabar- Foothills

b)Tarai – Plains marshy land

c)Bhangar – Upland area

d)Khadar – Low land area

3.Plateau

Central highland :- Malwa, Chota Nagpur, others Deccan plateau

Meghalaya and Karbi 4. Dessert

Hot Desert (Thar) and cold desert (Ladakh)

5.Coastal plains Saurashtra Konkan Malabar Coromandal Utkal Banga

6.Islands

Volcanic: Andaman and Nicobar

Coral: Lakshadweep Islands.

Notes prepared for Tourism Students, B.H.U. by Dr. Shyju P.J. Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University

(References mentioned in Cover Page)

Page 10

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