Urban tourism in East end London, a case of Spitalfield Market Research Paper

Urban tourism in East end London, a case of Spitalfield Market - Research Paper Example The development of tourism destinations worldwide has been resulted because of the increase of competition in the tourism and hospitality sector. The efforts made by governments and organizations of the private sector for the support of the tourism industry worldwide are characterized by the following trend: innovation is promoted while emphasis is given on sites and activities that are likely to result not just to economic but also to social benefits.The value of urban tourism within the global market cannot be denied,not all urban tourism destinations manage to respond to the requirements of their role. Spitalfield Market has been initially established in order to cover the needs of the local community for a Street Market. Moreover, issues like sustainability have become an indispensable part of the policies developed in the particular sector. Current paper focuses on a particular sector of the tourism industry: the urban tourism. Reference is made to a well – known Spitalfi eld Market in East London. The potential role of this Market as an urban tourism destination is critically examined using existing literature but also an appropriately customized survey. The findings of the literature and the empirical research lead to common assumptions: Spitalfield Market has many elements that could justify its characterization as an urban tourism destination; however, it is clear that the specific Market does not fully meet the requirements of urban tourism destinations... The sites of cities, which can be chosen as urban tourism destinations are not standardized. In accordance with Law (1993) urban tourism is more related to entrepreneurial activities; this means that when having to choose among urban tourism destinations, the one which is related to specific business or industrial activity should be more aligned with the requirements of urban tourism destination (Law 1993 in Selby 2004, 11). In the form described above, urban tourism can be used in combination with other forms of tourism – especially the cultural tourism – so that the expected benefits for the local community to be increased (Wahab et al 1997, 215). On the other hand, Hall (2005) notes that the primary reason for the establishment of urban tourism has been the need for the achievement of specific economic benefits for cities worldwide (Hall 2005, 196); thus, when similar initiatives are undertaken, it is necessary that their economic benefits – referring to econo mic benefits for the communities involved - are taken into consideration. 3. Urban tourism in East end London – Spitalfield Market 3.1 Current role of Spitalfield Market as a destination of urban tourism In order to identify the potential role of SpitalField Market as a destination of urban tourism it would be necessary to refer primarily to the Market’s characteristics – structure and facilities. Moreover, it would be important to describe briefly the products available in the particular Market; the range and the types of these products could be used in order to prove the value of the Market for promoting products of specific qualities/ variety. In accordance with a recent