Tourism and sport at the local and national scale practice questions.

A coastal resort has seen visitor numbers level off at their peak, its hotels are ageing and it relies increasingly on repeat visitors. In Butler's tourist area life cycle, which stage does this describe?

• Stagnation, with the possibility of rejuvenation or decline to follow
• Exploration, in which a few adventurous visitors arrive
• Development, in which external investment transforms the resort
• Involvement, in which local residents begin to provide services

Answer: Stagnation, with the possibility of rejuvenation or decline to follow

Stagnation is marked by peak numbers, dated facilities and reliance on repeat visitors rather than new markets. What follows is not fixed: reinvestment or a new attraction can rejuvenate the resort, while a switch to day trippers and weekend visitors is Butler's sign of decline.

A national park estimates that visitor spending of one million in local businesses supports a further six hundred thousand of income in the surrounding area. Which concept does this illustrate?

• The tourism multiplier, as spending circulates through the local economy
• Leakage, as income is transferred out of the local economy
• Carrying capacity, as the park approaches its limit
• Seasonality, as spending is concentrated in a short period

Answer: The tourism multiplier, as spending circulates through the local economy

Money spent by a visitor becomes income for a hotel, which spends part of it on local supplies and wages, and so on. The size of the multiplier depends on how much is re-spent locally, which is why locally owned businesses generate a larger effect than externally owned chains.

A rural area near a large city receives heavy weekend visitor pressure but few overnight stays. What is the most likely consequence for local businesses?

• High visitor numbers but low spending per head, concentrated in two days
• Steady income spread evenly across the week and the year
• High spending per head, since day visitors buy more than staying visitors
• No measurable economic effect, because day visitors do not spend

Answer: High visitor numbers but low spending per head, concentrated in two days

Day visitors bring congestion, parking pressure and litter in proportion to their numbers but spend far less than someone paying for accommodation and evening meals. This mismatch between impact and income is the defining problem of honeypot sites near cities.

A city builds a new stadium on a derelict industrial site rather than on a greenfield site at the edge. Which advantage is most specific to that choice?

• Reuse of brownfield land with existing transport links into the centre
• Lower construction costs, since brownfield sites need no preparation
• A larger catchment, since edge sites are inaccessible by car
• Freedom from any planning restrictions on redevelopment

Answer: Reuse of brownfield land with existing transport links into the centre

Central brownfield sites bring the crowd to existing rail and bus capacity and can anchor wider regeneration, which is the usual justification. They are typically more expensive to prepare, not less, because of contamination and demolition.

In 2016 residents of St Ives (Cornwall, England) voted in a referendum for a neighbourhood plan that restricts most new-build housing to people who will occupy it as their main home. Which local problem was the policy aimed at?

• Coach congestion in the narrow streets of the old town
• Second homes and holiday lets reducing the housing available to residents
• Erosion of the coastal footpath by summer walkers
• Loss of visitor spending to a rival resort further along the coast

Answer: Second homes and holiday lets reducing the housing available to residents

The plan works on the housing market rather than on visitor numbers: it does not reduce how many people come, only who may buy newly built homes. That is why it is a housing policy operating inside a tourism economy, and why it does nothing about congestion or path wear.

A National Park authority in England and Wales has two statutory purposes: conserving natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage, and promoting public understanding and enjoyment of the park. Where the two cannot be reconciled, which does the law require it to give priority to?

• Promotion of public understanding and enjoyment
• The economic and social wellbeing of local communities
• The interests of landowners farming inside the park
• Conservation of natural beauty, wildlife and heritage

Answer: Conservation of natural beauty, wildlife and heritage

This is the Sandford Principle, given statutory force in 1995: where the two purposes genuinely conflict, recreation gives way to conservation. Fostering the wellbeing of local communities is a duty placed on the authority, not a purpose that outranks conservation.